I 

I        LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

&  PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


Purchased  by  the 
Mrs.  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy  Church   History  Fund. 


Division.U.^..ic)  i.  O  U 

,S4^oF55 


Section. 


55 


■'^F^>^;:^"^^W?^>S^^5P^n?^-^-ilW3^J 


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y^s^\  OF  mHG^^. 
i     APfJ  1  1929 


FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


CONSTITUTED  AT  SAVANNAH,  GEOEGIA, 
JANUAEY   20,  A.D.  1788. 


WITH  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF  THE  PASTORS. 


WRITTEN  FOR  THE  CHURCH 


REV.   JAMES    M.  *SIMMS. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

1888. 


Copyright,  1888,  by  James  M.  Simms. 


®0  iU  Pcmovy 


REVERED  FOREFATHERS  AND  MOTHERS  IN  THE  GOSPEL  OF 
JESUS  CHRIST, 

REV.  ANDREW  BRYAN,  DEACON  SAMPSON  BRYAN,  HANNAH 
BRYAN,  KATE  HOGG,  HAGAR  SIMPSON, 

AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS, 

AND  TO  THE  PASTOR,  DEACONS,  AND  LOVINO  MEMBERS  AND  FRIENDS  WHOSE 

ZEAL  HAS  ERECTED  THIS  MONUMENTAL  EDIFICE  TO 

THE  GLORY  OF  THE  TRIUNE  GOD, 

THIS    volum:e: 

IS 

MOST  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 


"I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last:  and,  What 
thou  seest,  write  in  a  book." — Key.  i.  11. 

"  My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow 
me  : 

"And  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life;  and  they  shall  never 
perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand. 

"My  Father,  which  gave  them  me,  is  greater  than  all;  and 
no  man  is  able  to  pluck  theyn  out  of  my  Father's  hand. 

"I  and  my  Father  are  one." — John  x.  27-30. 

It  pleased  God,  a  ceutury  ago,  to  plant  a  Baptist 
Church  of  the  negro  race  in  Georgia,  and  having  nur- 
tured its  growth  and  spread  its  branches  until  now, 
there  are  of  this  distinctive  people  in  the  State  over 
thirty  associations,  fourteen  hundred  churches,  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  members.  We  shall  pro- 
ceed by  divine  grace  to  give  a  history  as  we  shall  be 
able  to  gather  the  facts  of  this  first  church. 

We  shall  not  hesitate  in  using  contemporaneous  no- 
tices from  our  more  favored  brethren,  well  knowing 
our  dependence  in  that  direction;  remembering  our 
bondage  and  the  almost  impossibility  of  keeping 
1*  5 


8  PREFACE. 

roborative  from  "  The  Salsbergers  and  their  Descend- 
ants," by  Rev.  P.  A.  Stroball,  1855.  Much  of  the 
history  of  Rev.  Andrew  Marshall  is  taken  from  what 
he  furnished  in  life  to  Rev.  J.  P.  Tustin,  D.D.,  and  a 
description  of  him  given  by  Rev.  John  M.  Krebs, 
D.D.,  both  of  which  are  published  in  "  Annals  of  the 
American  Pulpit/'  by  Rev.  William  Sprague,  D.D., 
1859,  the  correctness  of  which  we  can  attest.  With 
diffidence  in  our  ability  we  submit  our  recollections 
of  these  times,  hoping  they  may  furnish  a  basis  for 
some  more  able  historian  of  the  future. 


OONTEE"TS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Baptism  of  Andrew  Bryan  and  Three  Females,  by  Rev. 
George  Liele — Mr.  Bryan's  early  Exhortations  at  Bramp- 
ton— His  Meeting-Houso  at  Yamacravv,  upon  Edward 
Davis's  Land — Early  History  of  Baptists  in  this  Section — 
The  Orphan  House  of  Mr.  Whitefield — Nicholas  Bedge- 
good — An  Attempt  to  organize  a  Baptist  Church — Con- 
version of  Sampson  Bryan — Rev.  Thomas  Burton  — His 
Baptism — Mr.  Bryan's  Concerts — Plantation  Societies 
formed — Abram  Marshall — His  Baptizing  other  Converts 
— Organizes  the  Church — Ordains  Andrew  Bryan — Per- 
secutions of  the  Church — "Whipping  Mr.  Bryan,  his 
Brother,  and  other  Members— Jonathan  Bryan  intercedes 
for  them — Chief-Justice  Osbourne  gives  them  Permission 
to  worshij) — Church  removed  to  Brampton — Mr.  Bryan's 
Ordination  questioned — Decision  by  the  Georgia  Associa- 
tion— Preaching  on  Lot  of  Thomas  Gibbons — Church 
removed  back  to  the  City — Purchase  of  Lot — Building  a 
Church  Edifice  thereon — Removing  into  the  Same    .    .    13-35 

CHAPTER    II. 

Conversion  of  Thomas  Polhill  and  Wife — Attempt  to  organ- 
ize a  White  Baptist  Body — Conversion  of  Native  Africans 
— The  Church  as  a  Member  of  the  Georgia  Association — 
Soundness  against  Unity  with  Psedobaptists — Incidents 
of  her  Baptisms — Marriage  Relations  of  the  Members  .    36-45 

CHAPTER    III. 

Petition  to  Mayor  and  Aldermen  not  granted — Major  D. 
B.  Mitchell  of  the  Militia — Permitted  by  him  to  Meet — 
Trustees  selected — Property  deeded  to  them  in  Trust — 
Sampson  Bryan — First  Deacon's  Death — Organization  of 
the  Newington  Church — Rev.  Henry  Holcombe — His  Call 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

to  Savannah — His  Work — Organization  of  the  Savannah 
Eiver  Association — Constitution  of  Two  more  Colored 
Churches — Henry  Cunningham  and  Henry  Francis — 
Their  Ordination  as  Pastors 46-62 

CHAPTEE    IV. 

Sunday  Services — Condition  of  Night  Services — Beating  of 
the  Guard-House  Drum — Times  of  Communion — Mixed 
Membersliip — Andrew  Marshall's  Conversion  and  Bap- 
tism— Mr.  Bryan's  Feebleness — His  Character,  given  by 
Dr.  Holcombe — Andrew  Marshall  called  as  his  Assistant 
— Evans  Grate  as  a  Preacher — Mr.  Bryan's  Peculiar  Ser- 
vices as  a  Pastor — His  Death — His  Honorable  Burial — 
Kev.  Dr.  Koliock — Kev.  Johnson,  of  the  Savannah  Bap- 
tist Church — Death  reported  to  the  Association — Eesolu- 
tion  of  that  Body 63-75 

CHAPTER    V. 

Kev.  Evans  Grate  supplying  the  Church — Call  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Marshall  as  Pastor — Organization  of  Sunbury  Associa- 
tion— Adam  Johnson  and  Josiah  Lloyd  First  Delegates — 
Mr.  Marshall's  Doctrines — His  Troubles — His  Friends — 
Sentenced  to  be  whipped — Names  of  Influential  Members 
of  that  Day — Adam  Anderson  and  Joseph  Clay  as  Clerks 
—Grace  Hague 76-89 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Evans  Grate  and  Adam  Sheftall  as  Delegates  in  1822 — The 
Church  designated  as  African — First  Colored  Sunday- 
School— Dr.  Alexander  Campbell— His  Preaching  in  this 
Church — The  Division  it  caused — Mr.  Marshall  with- 
drawing with  the  Majority — Adam  Johnson  Leader  of 
the  Minority — The  Troubles  before  the  Association — Their 
Action — Mr.  Marshall  silenced — Buying  the  Old  Church 
on  Franklin  Square — Church  called  Rev.  T.  Anderson  as 
Pastor — Readmitted  into  the  Association — Her  new  Des- 
ignation      90-107 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER    VII. 

PAOE 

The  Claim  for  Originality — The  First  Negro  Baptist  Church 
in  America  —  Wanderings  and  Settlement — Orthodox 
Faith  of  the  Church  under  Mr.  Brj'an — Number  and 
Designation  not  by  the  Church — Submission  to  procure 
License  to  preach — Intent  of  our  White  Ministers  shown 
by  Kesolutions  of  the  Association — The  Church  powerless 
to  insist  upon  her  llights — The  Church's  Demands  upon 
Mr.  Marshall — His  Confession — They,  having  no  Juris- 
diction over  him,  accepted  the  Confession  as  a  Satisfaction 
— Mr.  Marshall's  Claim  to  the  Property— Trustees  decide 
against  him — Rev.  Anderson's  Resignation — Rev.  Stephen 
McQueen  called — His  Service  for  Five  Tears — Rev.  J.  B. 
Devoux's  Succession,  Service,  Resignation — Call  of  Rev. 
I.  Roberts,  Fifth  Pastor  from  the  Second  Church— Ser- 
vice, Resignation — Rev.  Brister  Lawton  succeeds — Call  of 
Four  new  Deacons 108-126 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Adam  Johnson  as  a  Deacon — Andrew  Neyle — Call  and  Or- 
dination of  G.  Frazer  —  Numeration  and  Taxation  of 
Churches — Frazer  desiring  to  resign — Ordination  of  U.  L. 
Houston — Southern  Baptist  Convention  of  1861 — Resig- 
nation of  Mr.  Frazer — Rev.  Houston  called  to  the  Pas- 
torate— The  Church  in  the  W^ar — New-Year  of  1863 — Last 
Meeting  with  the  Sunbury  Association — Freedom — Pastor 
and  Officers  introduced  to  General  Sherman — Secretary 
Stanton — President  Lincoln — Sheltering  Refugees — As- 
sassination of  Mr.  Lincoln — The  Shock — Recovery  and 
Hope 127-140 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Zion  Baptist  Association — Position  of  the  Church  therein 
First — Choosing  a  Title — Ordination  of  Rev.  A.  Neyle  to 
the  Ministry — The  Pastor  elected  to  the  State  Legislature 
— Church  procuring  a  Charter — Deacon  A.  Harris — Con- 
spiracy in  the  Church  —  Usurping  the   Pastorate  —  The 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Question  before  the  Association — Their  Decision — An  ex 
parte  Council  in  Savannah — Their  Decision — The  Cliurch's 
Action  thereon 141-163 

CHAPTER    X. 

Appointing  Brother  Green  to  Protest  against  Harris — 
Troubles  in  the  Courts — Counsel  Employed — Green's  Case 
before  the  Mayor — Harris  enjoined  by  the  Court — Branch 
of  the  Church  at  Woodstock  organized — Last  Communion 
Service — Resolutions  against  Harris— Houston's  Recall 
as  Pastor — Simms  received  into  Membership — Meeting  of 
Male  Members — Harris's  Injunction  removed — Attempts 
to  Preach — Policemen  called  in — Fasting  and  Prayer — 
Houston  and  Sirams  in  Prison 164-184 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Regular  Church  Services  resumed — Resolutions  Relative  to 
the  Late  Troubles — Parties  expelled — Troubles  resumed 
in  the  Association — Houston  elected  Moderator — Com- 
mittee reports  Relative  to  this  Church — Several  Elder 
Brethren  withdraw — Causes  of  their  Action — Old  Church 
Building  taken  Down — Committees  to  erect  a  New  Build- 
ing— Building  commenced — Corner-Stone  laid  by  the 
Ma=onic  Fraternity 185-204 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Work  of  Building— Modes  of  Raising  Funds— List  of 
Subscribers  and  Workers — Financial  Embarrassments — 
Trustees  efiect  Loans — Benevolent  Societies'  Assistance — 
Zeal  of  Pastor  and  Officers — Financial  Investigation  and 
Report — Building  completed — Request  for  Convention — 
Dedication — Centennial  Anniversary  Services — Branches 
from  this  Oldest  Church— Present  Officers 205-224 

CovEKANT,  Constitution,   and  By-Laws  ....   225-233 
Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Pastors  ....   234-264 


T 11  E 

FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

l^OETH   AMEEIOA. 


CHAPTER    I. 

"And  the  eunuch  said,  See,  here  is  water;  what  doth  hinder 
me  to  be  baptized? 

"  And  Philip  said,  If  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou 
raayest.  And  he  answered  and  said,  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God. 

"And  he  commanded  the  chai'iot  to  stand  still :  and  they  went 
down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch  ;  and  he 
baptized  him. 

"  And  when  they  were  come  up  out  of  the  water,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  caught  away  Philip,  that  the  eunuch  saw  him  no 
more." — Acts  viii.  3G-39. 

It  is  truly  said  by  Dr.  Benedict  that  a  mysterious 

Providence  has  permitted  a  large  portion  of  the  sons 

of  Africa  to  be  transported  from  their  native  country 

to  America,  and  here  to  liave  been  reduced  to  a  state 

2  13 


14        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

of  absolute  aud  (so  fa^'  a«  human  intent  could  control) 
perpetual  slavery ;  but  He  who  can  bring  good  out  of 
evil  has  overruled  this  calamity  for  their  spiritual 
advantage. 

In  the  good  providence  of  God  a  colored  man  named 
George  Liele,*  born  in  Virginia  about  the  year  1750, 
removed  to  Georgia  with  his  master,  Mr.  Henry 
Sharpe,  some  time  before  the  Revolutionary  war. 
They  settled  in  Burke  County,  and  his  owner  being  a 
Baptist  and  deacon  of  a  church  of  which  Rev.  Mat- 
thew Moore  was  pastor,  Brother  George  became  con- 
verted under  his  preaching  about  1774,  and  was 
brought  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  Jesus  through  faith ; 
and  not  long  after  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Moore  and 
received  into  his  church.  Soon  discovering  that  he  was 
endowed  with  ministerial  gifts,  the  church  approbated 
the  exercising  of  them,  and  he  began  to  preach  upon 
the  neighboring  plantations  along  the  Savannah  River 
with  much  success,  and  sometimes  he  preached  in  the 
evenings  of  Lord's  Day  to  the  church  (white)  to  which 
he  belonged.  For  about  three  years  he  occasionally 
came  down  the  river  as  far  as  Brampton,  a  plantation 
belonging  to  Jonathan  Bryan,  Esq.,  and  preached  to 
his  slaves;  he,  being  a  liberal  master,  encouraged  these 
visits.     He  frequently  extended  these  visits  to  the  city 

*  Benedict's  History,  1813,  vol.  ii.  jip.  194,  195. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  15 

of  Savannali,  and  preaclied  at  Yamacraw,  in  the  west- 
ern suburbs. 

What  converts  he  made,  if  any,  during  this  time 
we  have  no  information  of,  but  his  master  and  brother 
in  Christ  thought  so  well  of  him  that  he  gave  him  his 
freedom.  The  war  coming  on  of  course  stopped  his 
preaching,  and  he  remained  in  the  family  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Sharpe,  who  was  killed  in  the  war. 
Brother  George  then  went  free,  though  some  of  the 
heirs,  not  being  satisfied,  threw  him  into  prison  ;  but 
on  showing  his  free  papers  he  was  released.  Colonel 
Kirkland,  of  the  British  army,  who  befriended  him  in 
this  trouble,  then  advised  him  to  leave  the  country 
with  him  when  they  evacuated ;  and,  being  an  inden- 
tured servant  to  him  for  money  which  he  owed,  he 
departed  the  country  for  the  island  of  Jamaica,  in  the 
West  Indies,  some  time  in  July,  1783. 

The  vessel  in  which  Brother  George  embarked  for 
Kingston,  on  that  island,  was  detained  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Savannah  River,  near  Tybee  Island,  for  some 
weeks,  the  Avind  and  Aveather  not  permitting  her  to  sail. 
While  detained  there  he  came  up  to  the  city,  by  the 
providence  of  God,  and  baptized  Andrew  Bryan  and 
liis  wife  Hannah,  Kate  Hogg,  and  Hagar  Simpson, — 
all  colored  persons  and  slaves, — thus  closing  his  labors 
in  this  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard.  He  soon  after 
left,  and  was  seen  no  more  in  these  parts. 


16        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

About  nine  months  after  his  baptism  Brother  An- 
drew Bryan  began  to  exhort  his  brethren,  friends,  and 
a  few  white  persons  who  would  assemble  to  hear  him. 
Previous  to  his  public  exhortations,  prayer-meetings 
were  held  on  the  master's  plantation  at  Brampton, 
three  miles  west  of  the  city;  and  under  the  influence 
of  these  meetings  the  man's  faith  grew  and  prepared 
the  minister.  The  power  and  spirit  of  these  exhorta- 
tions were  of  such  a  character  that  his  master  and  some 
few  others  saw  it  was  a  matter  to  be  encouraged,  as 
the  seeming  influence  upon  the  servants  for  good  was 
apparent.  Therefore  Mr.  Edward  Davis  permitted 
him  and  his  hearers  to  erect  a  rough  wooden  building 
on  his  land  in  Yamacraw,  and  for  about  three  years 
they  enjoyed  the  inestimable  blessing  of  worshipping 
God  freely, — the  one  single  liberty  for  his  good  tlien 
allowed  to  a  negro. 

We  must  now  go  back  and  review  the  earlier  re- 
ligious condition  of  this  part  of  the  State  briefly. 
The  Wesley s  had  come  and  preached,  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Episcopalian  Church  of  England,  in 
1735,  and  after  they  returned  to  England  Mr.  George 
Whitefield  came  to  Savannah,  arriving  on  the  7th  of 
May,  1738.  He  preached  but  four  months,  then  re- 
turned to  England  to  solicit  aid  in  establishing  an 
Orphan  House,  which,  on  his  return,  he  commenced  to 
erect  on  the  25th  of  March,  1740,  calling  the  same 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  17 

Betliesda  ("  house  of  mercy").  There  had  also  been 
some  attempts  to  fmiiul  a  Lutheran  church — and  some 
missionary  work  had  been  done  between  Savannah  and 
Ebenezer,*  in  P^ilingham  County,  on  the  Savannah 
l^iver — by  Eev.  John  Martin  Bolzius  and  Rev.  Israel 
Christian  Gronau  as  early  as  1775.  The  Enhaw  Bap- 
tist Clmrch  existed  over  in  Beaufort  district,  South 
Carolina,  some  thirty  miles  off,  but  seemingly  there 
was  but  little  influence  felt  from  that  source.  In  the 
year  1757  one  of  Mr.  Whitefield's  assistants  at  the 
Orphan  House,  named  Nicholas  Bedgegood,  embraced 
the  faith  of  the  Baptists,  and  was  baptized  by  a  Mr. 
Oliver  Hart,  of  Charleston,  soon  after ;  and  in  1763, 
six  years  later,  he  in  turn  baptized  Mr.  Benjamin 
Stirk  and  wife,  Thomas  Dixon,  and  one  Dupree, — all 
white  persons.  These,  with  a  few  other  Baptists  (emi- 
grants from  the  old  country,  no  doubt),  had  the  Lord's 
Supper  administered  to  them  at  the  Orphan  House, 
nine  miles  south  of  the  city,  by  Mr.  Bedgegood ;  but 
this  little  society,  it  seems,  soon  scattered  and  no  per- 
manent organization  of  the  Baptists  came  of  them, 
much  to  the  relief  of  Mr.  Whitefield,  it  is  said,  who 
was  much  opposed  to  this  Baptist  interest  growing  up 
in  the  midst  of  his  work. 


*"The  Saulbcrgcrs  and  their  Descendants,"  b}-  Eev.  P. 
Strobel,  p.  94. 


18       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

We  note  these  efforts  and  their  faikire  right  here,  as 
by  them  we  may  see  God's  sovereign  will  in  giving 
the  negro  preference,  and  shall  by  and  l)y  revert  to 
them  again. 

These  humble  slave  worshippers  statedly  met  at  their 
meeting-house,  as  it  was  called;  and  the  good  seed 
sown  by  the  good  Lord,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Brother  George  Liele,  began  to  spring  up  and  bear 
fruit.  Mr.  Bryan,  like  "Andrew  who  first  findeth 
his  brother  Simon  and  brought  him  to  Jesus,"  was  in- 
strumental in  converting  his  brother,  Sampson  Bryan, 
about  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  and  they,  being 
visited  by  an  aged  minister  named  Thomas  Burton, 
soon  after  Sampson  and  seventeen  others  of  Mr. 
Bryan's  converts  were  baptized,  upon  a  credible  pro- 
fession of  their  faith  in  Christ.  This  number,  how- 
ever, is  not  an  indication  of  the  extent  of  his  success, 
for  many  who  may  have  been  converted  could  not 
receive  this  ordinance,  being  so  bound  by  the  power 
of  slavery  that  they  required  the  consent  of  their 
masters  in  writing  to  enable  them  to  obey  God  and 
satisfy  this  earnest  religious  desire  of  the  soul.  This 
small  beginning  seemed  to  have  commenced  in  the 
year  1785,  about  the  time  that  a  religious  revival 
was  going  on  higher  up  in  the  State,  and  about  the 
time  the  first  association  was  organized ;  and  the  little 
nucleus  for  the  church  had  to  learn  to  labor  in  pa- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  19 

tience  and  to  wait.  Their  progress  was  slow ;  there 
could  be  no  regularity  in  their  meetings ;  they  had  to 
bide  their  time  and  opportunity  to  serve  the  Lord. 
Here  was  the  period  when  the  system  ever  since 
known  as  the  Society  on  each  plantation  was  inau- 
gurated,— that  is,  one  brother  was  appointed  as  a 
watchman  to  open  and  lead  the  prayer-meeting  at 
such  place  as  the  few  believers  and  seekers  after  Jesus 
came  together.  Sometimes  it  was  in  the  watchman's 
house,  and  often  had  to  be  in  the  swamp,  when  pro- 
hibition was  made  by  the  owner  or  overseer  of  the 
plantation;  for  be  it  remembered  that  the  majority  of 
those  preached  to  by  Mr.  Bryan  were  from  and  of  the 
rice  and  indigo  plantations  along  the  Savannah  River; 
and  only  when  tickets  of  permission  were  given  to 
them  to  visit  the  city  could  they  attend  these  preach- 
ings. On  these  occasions  might  be  seen  numbers  of 
cypress  log  dugouts,  called  by  the  Indian  name  canoe, 
paddling  down  and  up  the  river  on  the  Sabbath  morn- 
ings and  evenings.  Those  of  the  city  and  suburban 
farms  had,  of  course,  better  opportunities  of  attending 
oftener ;  yet  all  were  under  the  necessity  of  procuring 
passes  from  their  owners  or  employers,  the  river  and 
roads  being  patrolled  by  the  county  militia-men,  and 
a  severe  castigation  would  be  the  penalty  if  found 
without  such  pass.  Thus  the  progress  of  religion 
may  only  seem  slow  when,  in  1788,  about  three  years 


20        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

after  the  visit  of  Rev.  Thomas  Burton,  tliey  were  again 
visited  by  Rev.  Abraham  Marshall,  of  Kioke,  accom- 
panied by  a  young  preacher  of  color,  named  Jesse 
Golphin.  Mr.  Marsiiall  baptized  forty-five  more  of 
the  congregation  in  one  day,  and  on  the  20th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1788,  organized  them  into  a  church,  and  or- 
dained Mr.  Bryan  to  the  ministry  as  their  pastor,  with 
full  authority  to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  the 
ordinances  of  Christ; 

Thus  was  the  church  struggling  in  embryo  for  about 
five  yeacs,  and,  being  now  fully  and  "fitly  framed  to- 
gether for  an  habitation  of  God  through  the  spirit,"  * 
their  faith  was  now  to  be  put  to  a  severe  test;  that  "the 
trial  of  your  faith,  being  more  precious  than  of  gold  that 
perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  with  fire,  might  be  found 
unto  praise  and  honour  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of 
Jesus  Christ."t  Joyous  in  this  only  privilege  allowed, 
with  much  pride  they  gathered  on  the  Lord's  Day 
in  their  rough  house  of  worship,  in  the  suburbs  of 
the  city,  singing  the  songs  of  Zion,  making  melody 
in  their  hearts.  There  had  ever  been  opposition  to 
any  other  religious  worship  save  the  Episcopal  and 
Lutheran,  the  only  existing  churches  founded  with 
the  colony,  and  the  Presbyterians,  planted  by  the 
Rev.  George  Whitefield,  all  Pedobaptists,  so  that  as 

*Epli.  ii.  21,  22.  t  1  I'eter  i.  7. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  21 

this  church  grew  and  began  to  flourish,  oft  appearing 
at  the  Savannah  lliver  administering  the  ordinance  of 
baptism,  they  met  with  various  annoyances  at  first, 
which  was  patiently  borne  almost  in  silence  ;  but  the 
opposition  grew  stronger  and  their  trials  greater.  Fre- 
quent, then,  became  the  whipping  of  individual  mem- 
bers by  the  patrol  on  the  plea  of  not  having  proper 
tickets-of-leave,  which  finally  culminated  in  the  ar- 
rest and  punishment  of  a  large  part  of  the  members, 
all  of  whom  were  severely  whipped  ;  but  Rev.  Andrew 
Bryan,  their  pastor,  and  his  brother,  Sampson  J3ryan, 
one  of  the  first  deacons,  were  inhumanly  cut,  and  their 
backs  were  so  lacerated  that  their  blood  ran  down  to 
the  earth,  as  they,  with  uplifted  hands,  cried  unto  the 
Lord ;  and  this  first  negro  Baptist  pastor,  while  under 
this  torture,  declared  to  his  persecutors  "  that  he  re- 
joiced not  only  to  be  whipped,  but  would  freely  suffer 
death  for  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  brothers,  Andrew  and  Sampson,  with  their 
backs  bleeding,  accused  of  evil  designs  against  the 
whites  or  of  plotting  insurrection,  as  charged  by  their 
accusers,  were  with  some  fifty  others  locked  up  in 
prison  and  their  meeting-house  taken  away  from  them. 
This  was  about  the  year  1789  or  1790.  Mr.  Jonathan 
Bryan,  the  master  of  Andrew  and  Sampson,  interceded 
for   these   persecuted    Christians,  fully  believing  that 

they  were  martyrs  to  prejudice  and  wickedness. 
2* 


22        THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

They  were  examined  by  the  Justices  of  the  Inferior 
Court  of  Chatham  County, — Henry  Osbourne,  James 
Habersham,  and  David  Montague, — who  found  them 
innocent  and  released  them.  It  is  but  just  to  say  that 
many  of  the  owners  of  these  humble  Christian  slaves 
were  indignant  at  the  barbarous  manner  their  servants 
were  treated,  and  so  freely  expressed  themselves  ;  and 
Mr.  Jonathan  Bryan  allowed  them  to  resume  their 
worship  upon  his  plantation,  and  gave  them  the  use 
of  his  barn.  Yet  even  here,  upon  private  property, 
they  were  followed  and  watched  during  their  nightly 
prayer-meetings,  when  they  did  not  see  these  eaves- 
droppers, and  though  protected  and  defended  by  sev- 
eral generous  whites,  who  felt  that  they  were  earnest 
in  their  purpose  of  the  worship  of  God,  their  enemies, 
nevertheless,  kept  up  a  continuous  system  of  espionage 
around  the  church  or  barn,  until  at  a  time  when  one 
of  their  number  was  eavesdropping  at  Rev.  Mr. 
Bryan's  private  house,  he  heard  this  pious  servant  of 
God  praying  earnestly  for  the  very  men  who  had  so 
mercilessly  whipped  him.*  Struck  with  surprise, 
conviction,  and  fear,  no  doubt  through  the  spirit  of 
God,  he  reported  the  same,  which  enlisted  great  sym- 
pathy  about   the   county,   and    thereafter   permission 

*  I  have  heard  this  circumstance  rehited  often  by  Rev.  A. 
jNEarshiill,  in  his  reference  to  the  past  in  his  sermons. — [Ed.] 


7A'  NORTH   AMERICA.  23 

was  granted  them  by  the  Chief-Justice,  Heuiy  Os- 
bourne,  to  continue  their  worship  any  time  between 
sunrise  and  sunset. 

They  held  meetings  at  Brampton  about  two  years, 
and  in  this  interval  of  peace  and  quietude  they  made 
some  influential  white  friends.  Aid  in  money  by  his 
people  and  friends,  to  rebuild,  was  given  Mr.  Bryan, 
and  he  succeeded  in  purchasing  the  lot  upon  which  the 
church  now  stands,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  1794 
began  the  erection  of  a  church  building.  Meetings 
were  being  held  also  occasionally  in  the  city  suburbs ; 
however,  this  year,  in  a  temporary  shelter,  built  upon 
a  lot  given  for  the  purpose  to  Mr.  Bryan  by  Thomas 
Gibbons,  Esq.  This  lot  is  situated  on  what  is  now 
known  as  Mill  Street,  running  to  Indian  Street 
Lane.* 

"ABSTRACT  SHOWING,  SO  FAR  AS  THE  SAME 
APPEARS  OP  RECORD,  THE  INTEREST  OF  AN- 
DREW BRYAN  IN  LOT  NO.  12,  NORTH  OGLE- 
THORPE  WARD. 

"This  lot  was  conveyed  in  1789  by  Jacob  C.  Wald- 
hauer  to  Thomas  Gibbons,  and  by  Thomas  Gibbons, 
on  June  1st  1790  to  'Free  Andrew.'— H  168,  170. 

"On  May  30,  1816,  Andrew  Marshall  receipted  to 
James  Morrison,  for  the  use  of  Delia,  a  free  person  of 

*  Abstract  of  Title  recorded  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Chatham 
County,  Book  II,  folio  168-170,  GG  93,  LL  W.     By  I.  Beckett. 


24        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Color,  for  $210,  being  the  purchase  money  of  One- 
fourth  of  this  lot,  and  agreed  to  make  titles  on  his  re- 
turn from  the  North.  Whether  or  Not  he  ever  made 
titles  does  not  appear  from  the  records. — GG  93. 

"  On  Oct  5th  1812  Fanny  Bryan  conveyed  to  Richard 
Richardson,  guardian  of  Andrew  Marshall,  One-fourth 
of  lot  No  12  Originally  purchased  by  Andrew  Bryan 
from  Thomas  Gibbons,  and  by  Andrew  Bryan  con- 
veyed to  Fanny  Bryan, — so  recited  in  this  deed  ;  but 
the  conveyance  from  Andrew  Bryan  to  Fanny  Bryan 
is  not  recorded. — LL  19." 


While  greatly  troubled  with  these  persecutions  and 
removals,  they  seemed  to  have  some  anxiety  of  mind 
iu  another  direction.  Here  they  were  alone,  no  asso- 
ciatiou  with  other  religious  bodies  ;  enemies  questioning 
the  validity  of  their  organization  as  a  church,  as  well 
as  the  ordination  of  the  pastor;  some  weak  members 
of  the  body  feeling,  if  we  are  truly  a  church  of  Christ, 
why  all  these  troubles?  There  was  but  one  Baptist 
association  then  existing  in  Georgia.  Rev.  Abraham 
Marshall,  who  organized  them  and  ordained  their  pas- 
tor, was  a  member  of  that  body.  The  Georgia  Asso- 
ciation was  organized  in  1784.  Its  operations  were 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  State,  not  easy  of  communi- 
cation. It  met  at  Brier  Creek,  in  Burke  County, 
about  ninety  miles  from  their  church,  in  May,  1790, 
and  a  letter  was  sent  from  the  church  asking  their 


/iV   NORTH  AMERICA.  25 

opinion  as  to  the  validity  of  the  constitution  of  tiieir 
cliurch  and  the  ordination  of  their  minister,  Rev.  An- 
drew Bryan,  wliieh  liad  been  effected  two  years  before 
by  Rev.  Abraham  Marshall  alone.  To  which  they 
gave  answer,  that  as  it  was  an  extraordinary  case  they 
gave  their  sanction. 

Providentially,  Mr.  Marshall  himself  was  moderator 
of  this  association  at  this  particular  session,  and  ex- 
plained tlie  embarrassment  under  which  he  labored. 
He  said,  "  There  I  was  alone,  and  uo  other  minister 
within  call.  I  felt  it  might  appear  an  assumption  of 
episcopal  power ;  yet  all  things  were  ripe,  and  the 
interesting  body  of  converts  was  suifering  for  want  of 
organization  and  an  administrator.  The  thing  wanted 
doing,  and  I  did  it."  And  all  has  worked  well. 
From  that  time  until  1795  the  church  was  a  member 
of  the  Georgia  Association,  and  was  only  dismissed, 
with  twenty-three  other  churches,  to  form  a  new  in- 
terest. At  this  meeting  her  membership,  as  re{>orted, 
was  three  hundred  and  eighty-one,  notwithstanding 
they  were  passing  through  fiery  trials  at  this  period. 

The  church  was  now  encamped  at  Brampton's  barn, 
witli  some  degree  of  peaceful  worship.  Their  late 
suffering  from  persecution  having  become  known  in 
the  city  and  county,  their  patience,  fortitude,  and  faith 
fully  tried,  elicited  some  sympatiiy  from  the  better- 
thinkinor  white  citizens.     Yet  their  Christian  life  was 


26        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

SO  beset  with  fears  of  other  persecutions  that  it  was 
finally  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  authorities. 

An  extensive  petition  was  drawn  up  for  them  by 
an  able  and  influential  lawyer,  Lachlan  Mcintosh, 
Esq.  Mr.  Bryan  took  this  document  and  commenced 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  leading  men  of  the  city  and  county, 
asking  their  endorsement,  which  is  here  copied  wr- 
batim  from  the  original,  now  in  our  possession. 

"To  THE  HON"'^''    THE    MaYOR  AND  AlDERMEN   OF 

THE  City  of  Savannah. 

^' The  petition  of  sundry  of  the  citizens  humbly  sheweth — 
"  That  the  Negroes  and  Slaves,  by  the  assistance  of 
many  of  the  Friends  of  Religion  in  Savannah,  in 
different  parts  of  the  State,  and  from  in  the  state  of 
S"  Carolina,  at  some  expence  &  trouble,  have  erected  a 
meeting  House,  and  have  been  regularly  supplied  with 
a  Pastor,  extreamly  well  adapted  to  thier  capacities 
and  situations,  and  who  is  better  qualified  to  instruct 
them  in  the  duties  of  thier  states  then  any  other  per- 
son would  be,  though  of  greater  Abilities — 

"The  influence  of  vital  religion  on  the  human  Heart, 
in  every  rank  and  situation  of  life,  and  invariable 
tendency,  in  proportion  to  its  operation,  is  to  subdue 
the  turbulent  passions — promote  a  spirit  of  meekness 
&  moderation — A  contentment  with  the  lot  and  situa- 
tion— A  resignation  to  the  will  of  Providence,  as  order- 
ing &  directing^  all  the  events  of  this  life  by  unerring 


IN   NORTH  A  Mi: RICA.  27 

wisdom  and  for  the  most  possitive  good  of  the  crea- 
ture— 

"  That  ever  since  the  society  has  been  established  it 
has  been  a  standing  rule  to  admit  none  who  have  not 
only  the  Approbation  but  the  recommendation  of  thier 
Masters  for  thier  good  morals  &  faitlifull  behaviour — 
as  individuals  and  a  Society,  they  liave  been  eminent 
for  thier  orderly  conduct  at  the  place  of  thier  meeting 
— for  thier  meek  and  inoffensive  carriage  towards  the 
Citizens — for  thier  submission  &  obedient  behaviour  to 
thier  Masters  &  Mistresses.  From  the  strict  discipline 
that  is  kept  up,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  past,  there 
is  the  most  rational  grounds  for  insuring  the  same 
peaceable  &  quiet  behaviour  in  future — 

"  Your  Petitioners,  from  personal  knowledge,  are 
fully  satisfied  that  there  are  many  instances  in  the  City 
and  Neighborhood  of  Savannah  of  bad  and  evil  dis- 
posed Negroes  &  Slaves,  who  have  been  detected  in 
thier  villainies,  and  it  seemed  out  of  the  power  of 
the  several  punishment  to  deter  them  from  a  repetition 
of  thier  crimes  ;  but  since  thier  becoming  members  of 
Andrew's  Society,  and  thier  attendance  on  his  preach- 
ing have  been  entirely  reclaimed  ;  they  have  given  the 
highest  proofs  of  the  happy  tendency  of  religion  in  the 
humblest  situation,  on  the  smallest  capacities,  and  of 
some  desperately  wicked,  and  notorious  for  almost 
every  vice,  becoming  the  most  valuable  &  trusty  slaves 
thier  Masters  have  in  their  possession — 

"  From  the  irreproachable  character  thier  Pastor  has 
long  maintained  together  with  his  Deacons  &  Elders, 
they  have  deservedly  great  influence  over  this  society. 


28        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Thier  being  under  the  inspection  of  one  of  the  most 
numerous  Denominations  in  America.  The  evidence 
they  have  long  given  in  thier  daily  walk  and  conver- 
sation in  thier  lives  and  characters,  of  the  purity  & 
the  excellency  of  the  Doctrines  they  possess.  The 
desire  they  have  to  assemble  is  to  get  good,  to  become 
better  slaves  &  better  Christians — It  would  seem  that 
a  society  from  such  motives,  and  reguJated  by  such 
principals,  could  never  interrupt  the  peace  of  the  City 
— If  your  Petitioners  might  be  permitted  to  express 
thier  own  thoughts,  from  these  facts,  in  opposition  to 
the  suspicions  which  some  people  may  seem  to  harbor 
— that  if  this  society  should  be  permitted  to  Assemble 
themselves  for  the  purpose  of  Religious  worship,  they 
will  pervert  the  privilege  for  base  ends — for  disorder 
&  Confusion — and  to  give  unnecessary  alarms  to  the 
Citizens,  are  altogether  groundless.  Besides  if  there 
should  be  any  disorder  brooding  from  this  quarter, 
thier  Pastors,  Deacons,  and  leading  members  would  be 
the  first  to  receive  and  the  best  to  depend  upon,  for 
every  information — So  that  from  motives  of  policy  it 
would  be  the  highest  wisdom,  to  attach  rather  than 
alienate  the  interest  of  the  leading  members,  &  they 
would  be  found  to  be  usefull  &  valuable  instruments  in 
the  hands  of  the  Hon'''®  Council,  in  cases  of  real  emer- 
gency— It  has  been  hinted  by  some  of  the  friends,  in 
favour  of  the  prohibition,  that  the  Doors  of  the  differ- 
ent Churches  in  the  City  should  be  opened  to  them — 
This  would  be  impracticable  for  it  is  known  that  when 
they  are  assembled  in  large  numbers,  from  constitu- 
tional peculiarities,  they  are  extreamly  disagreeable  to 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  29 

every  audience.  There  seems  therefore  no  other  al- 
ternative, but,  either,  to  permit  them  to  assemble  at 
thier  own  house,  and  in  thier  own  way,  or  entirely 
deprive  them  the  privilege  of  attending  public  wor- 
ship. This  we  presume  the  Hon^^''  Council  would  not 
do.  Your  petitioners  therefore  humbly  pray  tiiat  a 
society  of  Ciiristians,  that  have  walked  hitherto  with 
so  much  order  and  decorum,  who  have  been  so  emi- 
nently exemplary  by  thier  inoffensive  lives  &  Conver- 
sations, and  have  given  such  ample  testimony  of  thier 
purity,  &  the  influence  of  the  doctrines  they  profess 
may  no  longer  be  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  wor- 
shiping the  God  of  thier  existence,  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  consciences  and  in  thier  own  way. 
And  your  petitioners  as  in  duty  bound  will  ever  pray 
&c  &c — 

"  LACH^  MCINTOSH" 


As  before  said,  Thomas  Gibbons  conveyed  to  An- 
drew Bryan,  or,  as  stated  in  the  deed,  Free  Andrew, 
Lot  No.  12,  North  Oglethorpe  Ward,  bounded  now 
by  Mill  Street  on  the  south  and  Indian  Street  Lane 
on  the  north,  and  about  midway  between  Ann  and 
Farm  Streets.  The  titles  bear  date  June  1,  1790 
and  1791.  Mr.  Bryan  and  his  people  erected  another 
rough  wooden  building  upon  this  lot  in  the  city,  where 
the  church  worshipped  the  next  year  at  special  times. 
Those  members  upon  the  plantations  along  the  Savau- 


30       THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

nah  River  still  meeting  for  communion  at  Brampton 
every  three  months. 

These  periodic  meetings  continued  during  the  years 
1791  and  1792,  their  petition  being  in  the  hands  of 
the  city  authorities ;  the  then  place  of  meeting  being 
within  the  extended  limits  of  the  city,  and  near  the 
suburban  village  of  "St.  Gall,"  though  at  that  time 
it  was  called  in  the  woods,  so  thickly  was  it  surrounded 
with  shrubbery.  About  this  time,  through  the  kind 
feelings  of  the  owner  of  Mr.  Bryan,  he  had  obtained 
his  freedom  for  a  nominal  consideration,  and  com- 
manding his  own  time,  he  of  course  devoted  it  exclu- 
sively to  the  work  of  his  ministry.  In  moving  around 
in  the  community  he  always  appeared  decently  clothed, 
grav^e,  but  very  polite,  especially  to  the  whites;  and 
thus  by  his  general  deportment  gathered  toward  him 
many  influential  friends;  and,  therefore,  through 
Messrs.  William  Bryan  and  James  Whitfield,  as 
trustees,  he  purchased  for  thirty  pounds  sterling,  equal 
to  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  Lot  No.  7, 
Middle  Oglethorpe  Ward,  ninety-five  feet  front  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  and  a  half  feet  deep,  upon 
which  this  church  now  stands.  The  deeds  are  dated 
September  4,  1793,  and  conveyed  by  Matthew  Mott 
and  Catharine,  his  wife. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  31 

"  ABSTRACT  RELATING  TO  NO.  7  MIDDLE  OGLE- 
THORPE WARD,  ON 'south  SIDE  OF  BRYAN  ST., 
WIIERKON    THE    CHURCH   STANDS. 

"This  lot  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  records  of 
deeds  of  this  County,  on  Sept  4,  1793,  when  Matthew 
Mott  and  Catharine  his  wife  convey  it,  for  the  price  of 
thirty  pounds,  equal  to  |150,  to  Wm  Bryan  and  James 
\yhitfield,  '  in  trust  for  a  free  black  man  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  Andrew  Bryan,  a  preacher  of 
the  Gospel  by  lawful  authority  ordained'  The  de- 
scription givGn  of  the  lot  is  in  these  words  'All  tliat 
lot  of  land  known  as  No.  7  in  the  Village  of  St  Gall, 
fronting  Bryan  or  Odingsell  Street,  95  feet  front  132J 
feet  deep,  and  bounded  West  and  South  by  land  of  the 
late  Dr.  Zubly,  deceased.  East  on  a  lot  of  Richard 
Williams,  deceased.  North  on  the  Main  Street  leading 
from  Yamacraw  to  the  brick  Meeting  house. — N.  117.' 

"No  further  mention  is  made  of  this  lot  until  1840, 
When  Edward  Coppee,  who  appears  to  be  the  Surviving 
Trustee,  appoints  Wm  W  Wash,  Richard  D.  Arnold 
and  Abram  Harrison  as  Co-trustees  to  hold  the  property 
with  him.  The  facts  are  briefly  described  in  the  deed 
as  follows:  'On  July  3,  1797,  Andrew  Bryan,  a  free 
black  man  and  preacher  of  the  gospel  by  lawful  au- 
thority ordained  conveyed  to  Thos.  Polhill,  Wm  Mat- 
thews, David  Fox  and  Josiah  Fox,  in  trust  for  the  use 
of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Blacks,  of  which  Said  An- 
drew Bryan  Avas  pastor,  one  equal  moiety  being  the  half 
of  the  lot  (described  in  this  abstract).  Thomas  Polhill 
and  David  and  Josiah  Fox  died,  and  Wm  Matthews, 


32        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

the  Survivor,  by  Virtue  of  the  power  aud  authority- 
con  tained  in  the  original  deed  of  trust  from  Andrew 
Bryan,  on  Dec  6,  1824  appointed  Moses  Cleland,  Jo- 
siah  Penfield,  and  Edward  Coppee  as  Trustees  in  the 
place  of  the  three  deceased.  Edward  Coppee  is  now 
the  Sole  Survivor  of  the  four  last  named  Trustees,  and 
appoints  the  three  persons  mentioned  in  this  deed, — 
W,  W.  Wash,  R.  D.  Arnold  &  Abram  Harrison  in  the 
place  of  the  three  deceased  ones. — 3  L  279.' 

"  In  1867  R  D  Arnold,  Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis 
C.  Tebean,  Trustees,  transferred  the  jjroperty  to  Alex 
Harris  &  others,  Trustees,  and  here  the  -history  ends, 
in  records  of  deeds  &c,  except  as  to  Mortgages  given 
upon  the  property,  which  are  all  marked  concelled. — 
3Z26. 

"It  appears  from  the  foregoing  that  Andrew  Bryan 
conveyed  only  one  half  of  the  lot,  in  trust  for  church 
purposes.  The  other  half  appears  for  the  first  time  in 
a  deed  made  in  1881  by  the  Extrs  of  Edwin  T.  Wink- 
ler, who  was  one  of  the  heirs  of  Shadrach  Winkler,  to 
Chas  H.  Ehlers.  How  Shadrach  Winkler  became  the 
owner,  I  cannot  discover — No  deed  conveying  it  to  him 
appears  of  record. — 5  M  1  Z  1. 

"I.BECKETT 
"  Manager  Abst  of  Title  Office 

"June  21st  1887*" 

Upon  the  east  end  of  this  lot  Mr.  Bryan  erected  a 
small  wooden  building  for  his  residence,  and  removed 


*  Eecords  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Chatham  County,  Book  N, 
117. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  33 

into  it  with  his  family  iu  1794,  and  soon  after  com- 
menced the  erection  of  a  church  edifice,  forty-two  by 
forty-nine  feet.  About  the  same  time  the  rough  build- 
ing worshipped  in  was  rolled  over  to  this  Lot  No.  7, 
and  placed  at  the  southern  portion  of  the  ground,  near 
the  centre  of  the  east  and  west  line.  These  positions 
are  defined  thus  strictly,  as  they  will  show  the  care  of 
the  old  leader  to  have  his  meetings  as  little  conspicuous 
as  possible.  The  whole  lot  was  enclosed  by  a  high 
board  fence,  and  the  residence  and  meeting-houses  were 
all  inside  the  enclosure,  the  entrance  being  from  the 
northwest  end  by  a  gate. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Mr.  Bryan  held  meet- 
ings under  the  permission  of  Chief-Justice  Osbourne, 
while  at  Brampton,  from  which  the  church  had  now 
removed  to  the  city.  Their  meetings  here  were  held 
merely  by  sufferance  of  the  patrol  officers  of  the 
county,  under  individual  certificates  from  the  owners 
of  the  persons  who  attended  worship,  and  the  then 
known  favorable  opinion  held  by  the  community  of 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  these  meetings  and  their 
pastor's  popularity ;  but  with  all  this,  they  met  under 
great  fear  and  trembling.  And  so  there  gathered  on  the 
Lord's  Day  a  few  who  lived  in  the  city,  and  about  four 
times  a  year  the  members  from  the  country,  when  bap- 
tism and  communion  were  administered,  until  1795, 
and  the  big  meeting-house,  as  it  was  then  called  by  the 


34        THE  FIRST  COLORED   B4PTIST  CHURCH 

people  in  just  pride  at  the  peace  and  privilege  they 
enjoyed,  was  completed. 

It  was  slow  in  building,  as  facilities  for  getting  ma- 
terials were  difficult;  but  the  framing  timber  was  good 
and  solid,  hewed  out  in  the  forest  by  its  members,  and 
the  weather-boarding  was  all  neatly  planed  smooth. 
The  building  was  very  plain,  without  any  attempt  at 
architectural  beauty, — almost  square  and  box-like,  high 
pitched  roof,  with  small  windows;  one  wide  door  in  the 
west  centre  of  the  building,  and  two  smaller  doors  near 
each  end  on  the  south  side,  leading  into  the  open  space 
of  the  lot  between  the  praise-house,  as  the  smaller 
building  was  then  called,  and  the  pulpit  in  the  east 
centre,  built  very  plain,  shaped  like  an  acorn,  with  a 
raise  from  the  floor  of  about  three  feet,  plain  board 
front,  a  neat  cushioned  pad  for  the  Bible,  and  board 
seat  which  would  accommodate  three.  No  part  of  the 
building  inside  was  ceiled,  rafters  and  studs  in  tlieir 
rough  state,  straight-back  pews  without  doors ;  and 
the  only  pretension  to  neatness  was  in  the  smoothing 
of  the  backs  and  seats  and  rounding  and  beading  the 
edges  and  tops.  No  part  of  the  building  was  painted 
or  whitewashed,  but  plain  and  pure  as  from  the  car- 
penter's hands. 

Who  can  estimate  the  anxious  cares,  the  simple  but 
fervent  prayers,  connected  with  the  labor  of  erecting 
this   building?     The    men  at  work  were  greatly  en- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  35 

couraged  by  the  sisters,  who  would  at  times  even  assist 
in  the  work,  holding  up  the  ends  of  the  boards  while 
the  workmen  scribed,  cut,  and  nailed,  as  some  of  those 
old  Christian  sisters,  in  after  years,  describing  these 
times,  have  told  us.  But,  oh,  joy  to  the  heart!  praise 
to  the  Lord!  the  building  is  finished,  and  the  church 
has  rest  from  persecution  or  molestation  in  their  Sab- 
bath-day worship.  And  so,  without  any  other  formal 
ceremony,  save  an  earnest  dedicatory  prayer  of  thanks- 
giving by  their  administrator  and  pastor,  the  males  clad 
in  their  best  garments,  the  elder  females  with  snow- 
white  aprons  and  neck  and  head  handkerchiefs,  stand- 
ing in  grave  and  silent  awe  while  the  throne  of  grace 
was  being  addressed,  they  entered  and  possessed  the 
first  sanctuary  dedicated  to  Christ  Jesus  by  the  Hamite 
race  in  Georgia. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  seen  the  incipient  planting 
of  this  the  first  negro  Baptist  church  in  this  State  (and 
it  may  be  in  the  United  States),  its  early  growth,  and 
the  attempts  made  to  uproot  it;  its  transplanting  at 
Brampton,  and  again  temporarily  on  Mill  Street;  the 
storms  of  sorrow  through  which  it  passed,  the  fiery 
furnace  in  which  it  was  tried  and  purified,  then 
weighed  in  the  balance,  but  not  found  wanting,  and 
we  may  now  proceed  to  examine  its  growth. 


36        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


CHAPTEE    11. 

"Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the 
ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the 
seat  of  the  scornful. 

"  But  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  ;  and  in  his  law 
doth  he  meditate  day  and  night. 

"And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season  ;  his  leaf  also  shall 
not  wither;  and  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper." — Psalm  i. 
1-3. 

The  Master,  in  his  first  sermon  preached,  logically- 
put  down  the  basis  of  judging  the  true  disciples.  He 
says,  ''Every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit;  but 
a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit.  .  .  .  Where- 
fore by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  thera  ;"*  and  we 
find  the  Church  from  this  period  going  forth  sowing 
gospel  seed  and  bearing  precious  fruit.  The  years 
1795-1796  were  years  of  great  activity  among  the 
Baptists  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  State ;  and  while  the 
noble  pioneers  of  the  cause,  Abraham  Marshall,  the 
Mercers,  Walkers,  and  others,  were  carrying  the  blood- 
stained banner  of  the  cross  along  the  mountain  coun- 
try, Andrew  Bryan  was  demonstrating  an  eternal  truth 

*  Matthew  vii.  17-20. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  37 

that  our  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  in  every 
nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness, 
is  accepted  with  him,"  and  that  to  the  negro  race  it  is 
given  to  carry  and  spread  the  gospel  along  the  sea- 
board. Many  were  being  added  to  this  church,  some 
of  them  being  young  colored  men  of  intelligence  and 
brightness,  partaking  much  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
understanding  that  characterized  the  Master  whom 
they  served  ;  and  their  minds  becoming  illumined  by 
their  faith  in  Jesus,  quickened  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
their  help  to  their  pastor  and  usefulness  in  tiie  church 
became  apparent,  and  they  became  a  power  for  good 
in  this  land,  working  helpfully  and  harmoniously  for 
the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  State  and  the  glory  of 
the  kingdom  of  Ciirist. 

The  few  white  Baptists  in  this  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties, seeing,  no  doubt,  the  efforts  for  Christ's  cause 
made  by  tliese  humble  slaves, — the  self-sacrifice,  forti- 
tude, and  perseverance  exhibited  by  them,  while  they, 
with  superior  conditions  and  advantages  of  life,  had 
attempted  the  constitution  of  a  Baptist  interest  earlier 
in  the  history  of  the  State  and  failed, — now  bei-ame 
inspired  to  make  another  attempt.  By  the  })reaching 
of  Mr.  Andrew  Bryan,  in  1789,  the  highly-gifted  sou 
of  an  Episcoj)al  minister,  Thomas  Polhill,  and  his  wife, 
became  awakened,  and  were  finally  converted  and  bap- 
tized in  Effingham  County,  the  Lutheran  stronghold. 


38        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

Mr.  Polhill,  with  some  others,  made  the  effort  and 
succeeded  so  far  as  to  procure  a  lot  and  erect  partly  a 
building  on  Franklin  Square;  but  failing  to  secure 
enough  members  to  organize  a  church,  and  their  build- 
ing but  half  completed,  they  for  the  time  being  again 
abandoned  the  constituting,  and  rented  their  building 
to  the  Presbyterians,  who  had  just  lost  theirs  by  fire, 
and  thus  became  worshippers  with  them.  But  this 
branch  of  God's  right-hand  planting  was  steadily 
evangelizing  among  the  colored  people,  native  born,  in 
the  city,  the  surrounding  plantations,  and  among  the 
Africans  then  being  imported  in  numbers  from  their 
country  to  our  shores  and  sold  for  plantation  purposes, 
— very  many  of  whom  were  early  taught  to  know  the 
true  God  and  embrace  his  son  Jesus  Clirist,  and  so  lost 
their  pall  of  deep  sorrow  in  being  torn  ruthlessly  away 
from  home,  kindred,  and  kind,  into  a  seemingly  inex- 
tricable bondage,  mental  and  moral;  but  now,  with 
this  new  ligiit  of  the  gospel  in  their  benighted  souls, 
being  born  again  of  God  after  passing  through  gener- 
ations of  idolatry  and  ignorance,  have  become  free 
indeed  by  the  truth  preached  to  them  by  those  of  kin- 
dred blood  and  race,  though  of  a  different  tongue. 
Yet  the  Spirit  helped  their  understanding  to  the  exer- 
cise of  a  living  faith,  such  as  fear  and  the  suspicion  of 
treachery  would  prevent  their  receiving  from  the  most 
learned  and  loving  white  person  in  America, 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  39 

Many  of  these  native  Africans  became  eminent 
Christians  according  to  their  sphere  of  life,  and  sev- 
eral served  in  positions  in  the  church  as  deacons  and 
upon  the  plantations  as  householders  (as  some  of  the 
leaders  of  the  branch  society  were  called);  and  in 
nearly  every  instance  their  moral  and  religious  char- 
acter was  equal  to  the  best  among  their  brethren  of 
American  birth.  And  this  feature,  M'e  doubt  not,  early 
suggested  the  idea  to  our  white  brethren  of  designating 
a  church  composed  wholly  of  colored  persons  as  an 
African  Church. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  church  became  a 
member  of  the  old  Georgia  Association  in  1790,  and 
so  continued  as  the  only  strictly  negro  church  in 
that  body  until  1794,  when  the  meeting  was  held  at 
"  Powell  Creek  Meeting-house,"  near  Powelton,  when, 
in  response  to  letters  from  several  churches  requesting 
a  division,  "  it  was  agreed  that  all  the  churches  in  the 
lower  part  of  our  union  who  see  fit  to  form  another 
meeting  of  this  nature  have  our  consent;  and  that  one 
be  called  the  Upper  District  Georgia  Baptist  Associa- 
tion and  the  other  the  Lower  District  Georgia  Baptist 
Association.  The  first  meeting  of  the  Lower  District 
Association  to  be  on  Saturday  before  the  fourth  Lord's 
Day  in  September,  at  Buckhead  Davis  Meeting-house, 
the  brethren  John  Thomas,  Jephtha  Wining,  and  Silas 
Mercer  to  attend  as  messengers.     The  meeting  of  the 


40        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

Upi^er  District  Association  to  be  at  Kiokee  New  Meet- 
ing-house, on  Saturday  before  the  third  Lord's  Day  in 
October,  which  Association  is  to  hold  the  present  Con- 
stitution and  records."  Rev.  Silas  Mercer  was  ap- 
pointed to  preach  the  Association  sermon  when  they 
met  in  1795,  and  the  Saturday  before  the  fifth  Sabbath 
in  September  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  We  copy  this  almost  verbatim  as  recorded  in 
the  Georgia  Baptist  history,  to  show  the  careful  man- 
ner in  which  our  elder  brethren  in  a  division  formed 
new  interests  for  the  Master,  so  as  not  to  break  the 
union  of  the  churches  or  associations.  It  is  further 
said  that  "  twenty-two  churches  were  withdrawn  at  this 
time,  among  which  was  the  colored  church  at  Savannah, 
which  then  contained  three  hundred  and  eighty-one 
members,  their  pastor  being  Andrew  Bryan."* 

The  new  interest  organized  in  1785  departed  from 
the  advice  of  the  parent  body  so  far  as  adopting  a 
title,  which  was  called  Hephzibah.  It  does  not  appear 
that  this  church  was  represented  in  the  lower  or  new 
body,  and  we  may  account  for  this  in  the  fact  that  her 
sister  churches  (white)  over  in  South  Carolina  failed 
also  to  attend,  and  likely  they  were  all  considering  the 

*0n  page  3-1,  "History  of  the  Baptist  Denomination  in 
Georgia,"  there  is  a  misnomer.  It  was  Andrew  Bryan  and  not 
Marshall,  as  Andrew  Marshall  was  not  then  a  member  of  the 
church. — [Ed.] 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  41 

propriety  of  organizing  a  like  association  for  them- 
selves nearer  home, — for  we  well  remember  that  the 
white  brethren  of  onr  city  were  then  erecting  a  building 
and  endeavoring  to  constitute  another  Baptist  church 
in  Savannah ;  but,  as  we  have  said,  failed  in  the  under- 
taking then,  but  did  at  a  later  day  succeed  in  doing  so. 
It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  illiterate  con- 
dition of  this  bulwark  of  grace  was  such  that  we  can 
find  no  records  or  date  of  its  work  from  1795  to  1799; 
but  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  the  church  kept  on 
the  even  tenor  of  her  way ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  while  our  more  favored  white  Baptist  brethren 
affiliated  under  certain  circumstances  with  Pedobaptists, 
yet  this  humble  fold  of  Christ  (though  surrounded 
by  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Lutherans,  and  de- 
spite an  earnest  effort  by  Bishop  Asbury  to  establish 
Methodism  about  4his  period)  stood  firm  as  the  rock 
upon  which  she  was  planted.  Orthodox  in  the  Baptist 
faith,  Jesus  himself  opened  a  door  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment dispensation  of  grace  in  baptism  by  immersion, 
and  which  must  ever  remain  the  door  to  communion. 
Her  pastor  standing  firm  in  this  position,  immovably 
preaching  this  doctrine ;  not  that  they  or  he  was  learned 
in  the  doctrines,  but  by  a  spiritual  intuition  that  this 
was  the  way  the  apostles  went,  and  on  Sundays  of 
their  quarterly  meetings  (using  the  then  common 
phrase)  they  might  be  seen  in  solemn  procession,  the 


42        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

whole  church  marching  as  if  actually  going  to  a  burial 
of  the  dead  ;  their  sweet,  plaintive  voices  heard  as  they 
went  to  the  river  at  the  foot  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Farm  Street,  singing  the  great  commission  given  by 
their  loving  Lord,  as  paraphrased  by  Dr.  Watts,  and 
lined  by  one  of  the  brethren  or  the  pastor : 

"  Go  preach  my  gospel,  saitli  the  Lord  ; 
Bid  the  whole  earth  my  grace  receive  : 
He  shall  be  savad  that  trusts  my  word, 
And  he  condemned  who'll  not  believe." 

And  while  this  honored  servant  of  God  fervently 
appealed  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  blessings  upon  this 
land  and  country,  the  prosperity  of  the  city,  and  the 
upbuilding  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  here,  and  that  the 
candidates  for  immersion  may  receive  the  kingdom  of 
glory  by  and  by,  the  solemnity  and  impressiveness  of 
the  scene  were  at  times  awful  and  inspiring.  In  these 
earlier  days  of  our  fathers'  worship  at  the  water-side, 
it  was  a  custom  to  sing  some  of  the  songs  of  Zion 
while  the  ordinance  was  being  administered  ;  and,  oh  ! 
it  was  soul-cheering,  indeed,  to  hear  them  break  out 
in  joyous  acclamation,  as  the  first  subject  was  immersed 
and  rose  up  from  under  the  water, — 

"  I  am  bound  for  the  promised  land, 
I  am  bound  for  the  promised  land  ; 
Oh,  who  will  come  and  go  with  me? 
I  am  bound  for  the  promised  land." 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  43 

This  was  sung  as  a  chorus  to  some  subject  or  sentence 
from  tlie  Bible,  and  kindred  to  the  occasion,  para- 
phrased by  some  one  of  the  brethren,  many  of  whom 
liad  wonderful,  though  crude,  poetical  gifts,  remarkable 
in  their  conception  and  application.  Numerous  were 
those  spiritualizing  songs ;  but  this  is  sufficient  as  an 
example  of  the  times,  though  very  many  of  the  hymns 
from  the  then  popular  edition  of  "  Watts  and  Rippons" 
were  used  in  regular  church  services,  recited  from  the 
book  by  their  pastor  or  some  of  the  members  blessed 
with  the  ability  to  read.  Two  lines  of  a  stanza  were 
given  out  between  the  period  of  singing;  and  such 
was  their  religious  love,  memory,  and  zeal  that  it  was 
common  in  the  prayer-meetings  of  the  plantation  so- 
cieties to  hear  these  hymns  repeated  and  sung  with 
considerable  exactness,  though  ignorant  of  letters,  even 
by  some  of  Africo-American  tongue;  and  while  it  is 
also  true  that  the  attempt,  in  sofne  instances,  would 
seem  to  excite  ridicule,  yet  it  was  very  comforting  to 
kindred  souls.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  sacred 
Scrij)tures,  many  passages  of  which  were  read  from 
memory,  and  by  some  whole  chapters  were  accurately 
retained  and  intelligently  commented  upon;  in  broken 
language,  perhaps,  but  to  a  great  degree  sound  in  doc- 
trine and  logic.  While  the  church  was  in  the  fullest 
sense  evangelical  in  faith  and  missionary  in  spirit,  its 
strict  principle  on   the  communion  question  was  ever 


44       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

conspicuous, — none  were  invited,  or,  if  known,  per- 
mitted to  come  to  the  communion-table  who  were  not 
baptized  by  immersion,  coming  through  the  door  Christ 
Jesus,  as  he  laid  out  the  way  of  faith  in  Jordan. 

Another  evidence  of  the  orthodox  principle  in  the 
church  was  the  marital  relations  of  its  members.  Mr. 
Bryan  required  candidates  for  baptism  to  give  the 
fullest  proof  of  their  being  already  married  according 
to  the  tenets  of  the  Bible;  or,  had  they  simply  lived 
together  loosely,  as  the  slave-custom  too  commonly 
permitted,  to  come  before  him  and  have  this  solemn 
service  administered;  and  all  members  of  the  church 
intending  to  enter  into  conjugal  relations  were  strictly 
required  to  report  the  same  to  their  leader,  if  on  the 
plantations,  and  to  the  deacons,  if  in  the  city,  to  be 
reported  to  the  pastor,  who  read  out  the  banns  in  pub- 
lic church  service,  that  these  relations,  so  far  as  in 
the  church  were  possible,  should  be  kept  inviolate,  as 
Christ  has  taught  they  should  be.  The  State  recog- 
nized no  such  lawful  relations  among  the  slaves  or 
persons  of  color,  and  constantly  was  the  church  per- 
plexed by  the  cruel  separation  of  men  and  wives, 
members  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  being  sold 
away  from  each  other,  in  some  instances,  with  no  ap- 
parent hope  of  ever  meeting  again  on  earth  ;  and  which 
naturally  entailed  upon  the  man  or  woman,  as  the  case 
might  be,  remaining  with  the  church,  the  necessity  of 


IN  NORTH   AMERICA.  45 

contracting  new  relations  of  the  kind ;  but  even  in 
such  cases  the  church  required  sufficient  time  to  elapse, 
that  they  might  be  satisfied  there  was  no  hope  of  re- 
turn, before  marrying  again ;  thus  guarding  with  all 
the  power  delegated  to  the  church  the  sacred  com- 
mands of  Jesus,  and  throwing  the  onus  wholly  upon 
those  who  dispensed  God's  laws  so  unrighteously 
against  a  people  purchased  to  himself  with  the  precious 
blood  of  his  only  and  well-beloved  Son.  Of  course, 
many  conflicting  circumstances  arose  that  baffled  their 
reason  to  remedy.  However,  the  church  yet  stood  ac- 
quitted of  what  it  was  not  in  her  power  to  cure,  and 
could  btit  in  patience  submit  to  and  endure.  Thus  are 
noted  these  practices,  which  are  the  more  remarkable 
among  a  people  having  nothing  but  the  Bible  as  their 
guide,  which  but  few  of  them  were  able  to  read,  and 
that  very  imperfectly ;  yet  by  using  the  means  of  grace 
given  them,  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit's  unction  upon 
them,  inspiring  a  desire  to  do  simply  the  will  of  God, 
proved  themselves  equal  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures  aright,  and  acting  according  to  the  mind  of 
the  spirit,  and  in  faith  and  practice  orthodox  Baptists, 


3* 


46        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  III. 

"Arise,  shine;  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  tlie  glory  of  the 
Lord  is  risen  upon  thee." — Isaiah  Ix.  1. 

We  now  bring  the  histoi*y  of  the  church  to  the 
beginning  of  the  year  A.D.  1796.  Under  the  pro- 
tecting care  of  Jehovah,  led  by  his  grace,  they  find 
tliemselves  upon  ground  purchased  by  themselves,  and 
within  walls  erected  by  their  industry  and  love  of 
Jesus,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown  ;  yet  their  liberty  to 
worship  permanently  and  peaceably  was  uncertain. 
The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  corporation  having 
been  petitioned,  and  their  permission,  after  waiting 
for  a  long  while,  having  at  last  been  declined,  an 
appeal  was  made  to  the  commander  of  the  county 
militia,  and,  thanks  to  several  sympathizing  white 
friends,  they  procured  the  following  permission  : 

"PERMISSION    FOR   ANDREW   &   HIS    SOCIETY   TO 
PREACH  ON   SUNDAYS. 

"  Savannah  19th  March  1790 
"  In  as  much  as  I  deem  it  inconsistent  with  the  Spirit 
and  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion  that  any  Set 
of  People  under  the  Sun  Should  be  debarred  exercising 
that  Religion  in  the  way  they  best  understand  it,  and 
in  the  manner  best  fitted  to  their  Capacities  and  Situ- 
ations, when  Conducted  with  that  Decorum  and  decency 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  4f 

which  becometh  good  Christians  ;  And  it  appearing  that 
a  Great  Number  of  the  Most  respectable  Citizens  in 
Savannah  have  Signed  a  recommendation  in  favor  of 
the  bearer  Andrew  and  liis  Society  that  they  shonld  be 
permitted  to  assemble  and  preach  in  the  Meeting  house 
built  by  them  for  that  purpose  at  Yamacraw,  so  that 
their  Meetings  were  Confined  to  Sunday  between  Sun 
Rise  and  Sun  Set;  And  as  the  Corporation  have  here- 
tofore declined  Acting  on  a  Petition  preferred  to  them 
for  their  Sanction,  and  it  resting  more  particularly  with 
the  officers  of  the  Militia. — I  do  hereby  give  unto  the 
Said  Andrew  as  Pastor,  and  to  his  Elders  and  Society, 
my  full  approbation  to  meet  and  perform  Divine  Wor- 
ship, in  the  Meeting-house  at  Yamacraw,  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,  between  Sun  Rise  and  Sun  Set,  so  long  as 
they  Conduct  themselves  with  due  decency  and  order; 
and  that  the  persons  attending  thereon  have  a  pass  from 
their  masters  or  Mistresses  for  that  purpose  ;  And  I  do 
Recommend  to  the  officers  Commanding  Companies  in 
the  first  Battalion,  to  give  their  Sanction  for  the  above 
puri)ose,  and  that  they  will  Cause  an  inspection  as  often, 
and  at  Such  times,  as  they  may  Deem  Necessary,  in 
order  that  no  abuse  of  this  indulgence  may  take  place. 

"  D.  B.  Mitchell,  Major. 
1st  Battalion  C  R— 
Joseph  I^oberts 
James  Box  Young 
John  Moore 
Geo.  Throop 
James  Robertson 
Francis  Doyle." 


48        THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

I  wish  the  prayer  of  the  petition  to  be  granted,  the  meeting 
to  be  on  Sundays  only  in  the  day  time. — Geo.  Houstuon. 
Tho».  M.  Woodbridge. 
KiCH*.  Wylly. 
Barth^.  Waldburger. 
No  objection  to  the  within   petition   provided  they  meet  on 
Sundays  only,  and  that  at  twelve  o'clock  and  by  no  means  at 
night. — W".  Moore. 

John  Habersham. 
If  a  proper  white  Clergyman  was  appointed  to   instruct  the 
Negroes  in  religion  I  see  no  impropriety  in  their  attending  him 
on  Sundays  only  with  tickets  from  their  masters. 

John  P.  Ward. 
I  wish  the  prayer  of  the  petition  to  be  granted,  as  every  Man 
ought  to  enjoy  his  own  religion. — Thomas  Pitt. 

I  agree  &  approve  of  the  within  Petition  provided  the  Hours 
of  Worship  are  after  Sun  Rise  in  the  Morning  &  ending  before 
Sun  Set  on  Sundays  only.— 11.  Wyllt. 
John  Wallace. 
Ben  Wall. 
Joseph  Dunlap. 
Egbert  Bolton. 
I  Signe  the  above  petition  iinding  that  my  Negros  that  atend 
publicly  worshap  ar  to  be  Trusted. — John  Millen. 
H"".  Anciaux. 
Dan*.  John  Green. 
Liberty  of  Conscience,  &  a  Eight  to  serve  God  according  to 
its  dictates  are  Natufal  privi ledges,  and  none  ought  to  be  pre- 
vented from  enjoying  them.— Tho'.  F.  Williams. 
Day"!.  Montaigut. 
Ven  Bond. 
James  Montfort. 
John  Y.  Noll. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  49 

Let  tliein  meet  to  pray  when  they  please. 

D"".  MosBS  Vallott. 

Samuel  Soffam. 

Dan'.  M°Garvey. 

W".  Bird. 

Lewis  Bird. 

Matthew  Mott. 

Tho'.  Harrison. 

Jn".  H.  Egberts. 

J.  Whitefield. 

John  Hamilton. 

Lach"  M^Intosh. 
I  wish  tlie  prayer  of  the  above  petition  may  be  granted. 

Jos.  Clay,  ju"". 
1  agree. 

Ben.  Lloyd. 
Edw.  Lloyd. 
Ja'.  Johnston,  Sen^ 
N.  Johnston. 
Eben"".  Hills, 
godin  guerard. 
I  wish  the  purport  of  this  Pef  granted — for  Sundays  only  and 
that  in  the  day  lime. — Justus  H.  Scheuber. 
John  G.  Williamson. 
Charles  Harris  (for  the  age  of  Keason). 
I  wish  the  prayer  of  the  above  petition  to  be  granted,  as  I  think 
all  men  have  a  right  to  worship  God  in  theire  owne  way,  Espe- 
cially as  no  possible  danger  Can  arise  to  the  Community  from 
theire  meeting  in  the  day  time. — Mordacai  Shkftall. 

I  have  no  objection  provided  their  Meeting"  be  in  the  day  time 
&  on  Sundays  only. — John  Glkn. 
James  B.  Young  agreeing  with  IM"".  Glen. 
I  agree  with  the  above. — M.  Briskell. 


50        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

I  recommend  that  Stated  hours  should  be  fixed  for  their  meet- 
ing, on  Sundays  only,  and  that  a  Bell  may  be  procured  to  call 
them  together. — James  Mossman. 

Thomas  H.  M^Caule  wishes  as  many  of  the  rights  of  man  as 
possible  restored  to  the  blacks,  To  worship  God  according  to  con- 
science is  certainly  one  of  those  rights. 

Men  ought  not  to  be  prevented  from  worshipping  that  God, 
who  gave  them  existence — therefore  I  hope  this  their  prayer  may 
be  heard. — T.  Netherclif. 

I  approve  of  this  petition,  provided  they  meet  in  the  day  and 
on  Sundays  only  at  stated  hours. — J.  Neyle. 

John  Y.  White  wishes  prosperity  to  the  same. 

The  present  Law  of  the  State  forbids  a  public  assemblage  of 
Negroes — therefore,  the  privileges  claimed  bj'  the  pet",  ought  to 
be  referred  to  the  Legislature — I  agree  in  this — that  there  ought 
not  to  be  any  hindrance  to  a  free  tolerance  of  public  worship  to 
my  people — W.  Stephens. 

I  agree  to  the  above  mode. — P.  V.  Morel. 

With  this  permit  pastor  and  people  felt  more  secure, 
and  their  meetings  were  more  free  and  frequent.  How 
much  lighter  must  have  been  the  hearts  of  his  brethren, 
as  the  old  servant  of  the  Lord,  their  tried  pastor  and 
counsellor,  from  his  pulpit  oflferal  thanks  to  God  on 
that  Sunday  morning  in  March,  1796,  for  his  mercies 
in  procuring  for  them  this  immunity  from  their  ene- 
mies, and,  holding  up  the  document  before  them,  bade 
them  walk  the  more  humbly,  and  serve  the  more  faith- 
fully, that  they  might  liold  fast  that  which  they  had 
and  not  again  lose  it. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  51 

Uu fortunately,  we  Imve  no  way  of  knowing  what 
progress  the  church  at  this  time  made  in  numbers, 
from  the  report  made  to  the  Georgia  Association,  in 
1790,  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-one  members;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that,  so  far  as  circumstances  per- 
mitted, the  gain  of  the  church  spiritually  was  equal  to 
the  blessings  she  had  temporally.  God  had  given 
them  all  they  jmssessed,  and  their  pastor,  though  pur- 
chasing through  his  white  friends  and  in  his  individual 
name,  yet  knew  it  all  was  the  gift  of  God  to  his  believ- 
ing, trusting  people,  and  on  the  3d  day  of  July,  1797, 
"  conveyed  in  trust,  for  the  use  and  better  security,  to 
the  members  of  his  church,  to  Messrs.  Thomas  Polhill, 
William  Matthews,  David  Fox,  and  Josiah  Fox,  one 
eipial  moiety  being  the  half  of  all  that  lot  of  land 
(most  part  of  said  lot)  .  .  .  known  as  No.  7,  in  the 
village  of  St.  Gall,  fronting  on  Bryan  or  Odingsell 
Street."  So  states  the  deed  in  part,  which  will  be 
found  in  full  hereafter.  The  consideration  named  was 
the  same  as  that  originally  paid  for  the  land,  thirty 
pounds  sterling;  the  terms  of  the  trust  being  per- 
petual, the  survivors  having  power  to  fill  vacancies 
wdienever  they  should  occur.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  first  named  in  the  trust.  Major  Polhill  and  wife, 
were  converted  by  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Bryan  in  his 
yard  at  Newington,  in  Effingham  County,  eighteen 
miles  above  Savannah,  in  1789,  and  were  both  baptized 


52        THE   FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

by  Rev.-  Alexander  Scott,  of  Black  Swamp,  South 
Carolina,  who,  by  his  zeal  for  the  cause,  was  instru- 
mental in  the  constitution  of  the  Newington  Church, 
in  1798;  being  the  oldest  white  Baptist  church  in  the 
lower  part  of  Georgia.  Thus  God  blessed  his  seed  of 
grace  sown  in  the  hearts  of  these  humble  slaves  even 
to  whites,  wherefore  he  saith,  God  resisteth  the  proud 
but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble. 

The  close  of  the  century  found  this  church  doing  a 
good  work  for  the  Lord,  and  is  also  memorable  in  the 
loss  to  her  of  the  first  and  ever-faithful  deacon,  Samp- 
son Bryan,  own  brother  to  the  pastor,  and  one  among 
the  first  fruits  of  his  ministry  who  became  a  deacon 
upon  the  constitution  of  the  church,  sufi^ered  severely 
like  his  brother  in  their  great  trials,  passed  with  him 
as  through  fire,  and  came  out  but  more  purified  and 
strong,  never  faltering  or  failing  in  any  duty  to  his 
master,  Jesus.  He  lived  and  rejoiced  to  see  the  old 
ship  of  Zion  riding  prosperously  upon  the  sea  of  time, 
having  safely  weatliered  many  gales ;  and  then,  on  the 
23d  of  January,  1799,  his  Lord  called  him  home,  to 
enter  into  that  rest  that  remaineth  to  the  people  of 
God ;  and  though  his  death  to  him  was  no  doubt 
groat  gain,  the  loss  to  the  church  and  to  their  pastor, 
his  elder  brother,  can  hardly  be  told  in  words.  He 
was  buried  in  the  colored  persons'  cemetery  of  the 
city,  his  grave  vaulted  over  with  bricks,  and  a  large 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  53 

marble  stone  laid  upon  it  with  this  inscription,  wliich 
remains  to  tins  day  : 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  Sampson  Bryan,  who  departed  this  life 
January  23d,  1799,  aged  53  years.  He  was  the  first  deacon  of 
the  First  Colored  Baptist  Church  in  this  city,  and  served  faith- 
fully in  that  office  until  his  death." 

The  feeble  but  earnest  struggle  of  the  Newington 
interest  was  all  the  Baptist  strength  east  of  Burke 
County,  in  this  State;  when,  in  1799,  Rev.  Henry 
Holcombe  was  invited  to  Savannah  by  the  pewholder.s 
of  the  congregation  worshipping  on  Franklin  Square, 
consisting  of  Presbyterians  and  a  very  few  Baptists, 
who  had  built  the  house  of  worship,  yet  were  not 
sufficiently  strong  to  constitute  a  church;  and  so  were 
jointly  worshipping  together,  when  Dr.  Holcombe  ac- 
cepted the  call  to  supj)ly  thera. 

His  relation  to  and  influence  upon  this  church,  as 
also  of  the  Baptist  interest  of  the  whole  State,  war- 
rants us  in  giving  him  more  than  a  passing  notice  in 
this  history.  "Rev.  Henry  Holcombe,  D.D.,  was  born 
in  Prince  Edward  County,  Virginia,  September  22, 
]762.  While  he  was  yet  a  child  his  father  moved  to 
South  Carolina,  where  (to  use  his  own  words)  at  eleven 
years  of  age  he  completed  all  the  education  he  ever 
received    from   a   living    preceptor."*     As   a    young 

*"  Georgia  Baptists,  Historical  and  Biographical,"  by  J.  H. 
Campbell. 


54        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

man  he  served  in  the  Revohitionary  war  as  a  cap- 
tain of  cavalry.  He  was  converted  to  Christ  while 
so  serving,  and  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  immediately  began  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and,  it  is  said,  his  first  sermon 
was  preached  in  the  saddle,  at  the  head  of  his 
command,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1785.  Not 
long  after  he  became  convinced  that  the  Baptist 
principles  of  religion  were  right,  and  he  rode  twenty 
miles  on  horseback  to  be  baptized  by  immersion. 
He  was  soon  ordained,  and  became  a  distinguished 
preacher,  meeting  with  extraordinary  success  in  his 
work.  Among  his  converts  were  his  wife  and  an 
only  brother  of  hers,  aud  their  mother ;  also  his 
own  father.  Grimes  Holcombe,  was  converted  from 
Pedobaptist  views.  All  these  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  baptizing. 

He  was  pastor  of  the  Euhaw  Baptist  Church  of 
South  Carolina,  though  he  resided  at  Beaufort,  when 
in  1799  he  was  invited  to  Savannah;  and  we  repeat, 
truly  his  coming  into  the  State  rendered  great  service 
to  the  Baptist  cause  in  general  and  this  church  and 
Savannah  in  particular ;  and  from  the  time  he  became 
acquainted  witli  Rev.  Mr.  Bryan,  and  the  history  of 
his  church  and  people,  ever  manifested  the  deepest  in- 
terest in  their  welfare,  both  moral  and  religious,  as 
will  be  seen  in  history,  and  as  long  as  he  remained  in 


W  NORTH  AMERICA.  55 

the  State,  and  even  after  removing  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  went  in  1811.* 

So  much  success  attended  his  ministry  that  in  1800 
it  was  judged  proper  to  organiice  a  Baptist  church  of 
his  white  brethren  in  Savannaii.  The  constituent 
members  were  twelve, — three  males  and  nine  females. 
Dr.  Holcombe  soon  after  was  called  as  the  pastor,  and 
served  as  such  eleven  years.  Thei'e  is  no  doubt  but 
that  this  First  Colored  Church  was  remarkably  success- 
ful in  its  humble  sphere,  and  some  of  its  past  history 
coming  to  the  doctor's  notice,  in  his  late  field  of  service 
just  across  the  boundary  in  Carolina,  had  made  an  im- 
pression, and  he  was  not  long  in  seeing  in  it  a  means 
of  spreading  the  Baptist  influence  in  this  section  of  the 
State. 

The  constitution  of  this  Savannah  church  gave  three 
to  the  eastern  part  of  the  State :  the  First  Colored, 
organized  January  20,  1788;  the  Newington,  1793; 
the  Savannah,  1800.  They  met  in  convention  at 
Savannah  in  1802,  and  organized  the  Savannah  River 
Association.  Who  the  officers  were  we  have  no  knowl- 
edge, as  the  file  of  minutes  has  been  lost,  it  ap})ears; 
but  this  we  are  certain  of,  that  the  churches  were 
enrolled  according  to  the  date  of  constitution,  and 
the    First    Colored    Church    stood    at    the    head    of 

*  Benedict's  "  History  of  the  Baptists,"  vol.  ii.  p.  18C. 


56        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

the  roll;*  its  membership  was  reported  at  850,  and 
to  streugthen  the  body  it  was  resolved  that  two 
more  colored  churches  be  constituted  out  of  the  mem- 
bership of  the  First,  and  that  two  more  colored  min- 
isters be  ordained  as  their  pastors.  While  we  may 
see  clearly  the  wisdom  and  zeal  of  our  fathers  to  en- 
large and  strengthen  our  Baptist  field,  no  doubt  sug- 
gested by  the  acute  mind  of  Dr.  Holcombe,  it  does 
also  appear  that  the  character  and  standing  of  the 
pioneer  in  this  section,  Rev.  Bryan,  stood  out  strongly 
insisting  that  in  justice,  as  well  as  the  eternal  fitness 
of  the  purpose,  he  should  have  some  ministering 
colleagues  of  his  own  race,  and  tiiat  the  claims  and 
fitness  of  some  of  the  young  men  whom  he  had  led  to 
Christ  by  his  preaching  should  be  considered;  and  it 
appears  that  the  old  pastor  also  held  that  his  church 
should  be  consulted  in  the  premises  and  give  her 
consent ;  and  he  carried  his  point.  Subsequent  events 
proved  that  this  was  the  will  of  God  to  perpetuate 
colored  churches. 

Among  the  male  members  of .  tiiis  church  showing 
gifts  were  Henry  Cunningham,  Henry  Francis,  and 
Evans  Grate,  deacons;  but  of  the  three,  Cunning- 
ham's gifts  and  circumstances  seemed  to  favor  him 
above  his  fellows.     Yet  it  appears  that  the  minds  of 

*  Benedict's  "  History  of  the  Baptists,"  vol.  ii.  p.  18G. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  57 

both  church  and  pastor  were  different,  for  soon  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  Association  the  church  called 
a  council  and  ordained  Brother  Henry  Francis,  May 
23,  1802.  Rev.  Jesse  Peters,  of  Augusta,  preached 
from  Mark  xv.  16;  prayer  by  Rev.  A.  Bryan; 
charge  by  Dr.  Holcombe.  This  seemed,  of  course, 
to  give  him  preferment  over  his  other  brethren  for 
the  new  churches  under  contemplation ;  and  as  to 
Brother  Cunningham  he  must  have  so  felt  it,  for  he 
requested  his  letter, — which,  being  granted,  he  put  in 
the  Savannah  Baptist  Church  (white)  and  was  received 
into  fellowship  as  a  member, — as  did  also  several 
others  who  followed  him,  among  whom,  as  has  been 
named  to  us,  were  Brother  Thomas  Anderson  and 
Sisters  Betsey  Cunningham,  Silvia  Whitfield,  Silvia 
Monax,  Charlotte  Walls,  Leah  Simpson,  Susan  Jack- 
son ;  Brethren  Scipio  Gordon  and  Richard  Houston, — 
all  of  whom  afterwards  became  active  organizers  of 
the  Second  Church.*  This  seemed  to  have  been  the 
first  serious  misunderstanding  among  themselves  as  a 
church,  and  requests  for  letters  became  so  numerous 
that  the  old  pastor  refused  to  grant  any  more,  and 
threatened  to  expel  them  for  insubordination ;  yet  all 
who  were  dismissed,  residing  in  the  city,  joined  Dr. 


*  "  Eeminiscences,"  by  Samuel  Cope,  a  young  member  at  this 
period. 


58        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Holcombe's  church  and  augmented  liis  small  body 
considerably.  This  showed  also  conclusively  that  it 
was  the  early  intention  of  our  white  brethren  to  en- 
courage and  foster  a  mixed  membership  of  white  and 
colored,  which  in  after  years,  as  will  be  seen,  com- 
pletely checked  the  constitution  of  churches  wholly  of 
the  negro  race,  and  the  ordination  of  negro  preachers. 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  members  who 
took  letters  and  became  members  among  the  w^hites 
were  mostly  of  the  house-servants  in  the  city,  whose 
condition  and  circumstances  were  highly  favorable  at 
that  day.  Many  of  this  class  in  after  years,  like  their 
pastors,  purchased  their  freedom,  having,  in  some  in- 
stances, previously  been  permitted  to  hire  their  time 
and  work  in  various  occupations  for  wages.  Their 
surplus  over  the  amount  charged  by  their  owners  was 
often  larger  than  what  they  paid.  Such  persons  would 
very  naturally  have,  as  members  of  the  church,  some 
independence  of  feeling  and  judgment,  innate  in  a 
Baptist  mind  from  the  very  nature  of  their  faith  and 
its  teachings.  Thus  feeling  ran  high  and  much  ex- 
citement was  felt,  if  but  little  could  be  expressed,  in 
making  this  division  of  the  parent  body  and  selecting 
the  brethren  who  were  to  take  the  leading  part  in  these 
new  interests.  However,  it  seems  that  Dr.  Holcombe 
threw  his  influence  in  favor  of  Brother  Henry  Cun- 
ningham;  and  when,  on  December  26,  1802,  the  first 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  59 

of  tlie  two  new  churches  was  organized,  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham was  called  to  the  pastorate,  though  Mr.  Francis 
had  been  already  first  ordained  with  that  view. 

In  making  the  division  it  seems  that  as  one  of  the 
churches  was  to  be  located  in  the  city,  it  was  planted 
at  its  east  end,  in  the  midst  of  the  residences  of  some 
of  the  wealthiest  white  citizens.  Most  of  the  members 
composing  this  church  were  those  residing  in  the  city, 
— intelligent  domestic  servants  and  some  mechanics, — 
who  were  ever  under  the  eye  of  their  owners,  which 
gave  them  great  protection  and  peaceable  worship ; 
and  so  that  church  became  the  pride  of  the  young 
colored  people  of  Savannah.  The  other  church  was 
planted  on  the  Ogeechee  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  slaves  upon  the  plantations  along  that  river, 
some  fourteen  miles  south  of  the  city.  To  the  Second 
Colored  Church  in  the  city  were  given  about  200, 
and  to  the  Ogeechee  250  members  from  this  parent 
church,  all  regularly  dismissed  from  her,  and  Rev. 
Henry  Francis  was  given  the  pastorate.  So  there  were 
now  five  Baptist  churches  in  the  Association,  as  fol- 
lows :  First  Colored,  Savannah,  Rev.  Andrew  Bryan, 
membership  400;  Newington,  Effingham  County,  Rev. 
John  Goldwire,  16  ;  Savannah  Baptist  Church,  Rev. 
Henry  Holcombe,  67 ;  Second  Colored  Church,  Savan- 
nah, Rev.  Henry  Cunningham,  200;  and  Ogeechee 
Baptist  Church,  Rev.  Henry  Francis,  250  members. 


60        THE  FIRST    COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

So  they  were  reported  at  their  associational  meeting 
in  1803.  Two  other  churches  above  Savannah,  in 
Georgia,  united  with  tliem  that  year  also, — namely, 
Black  Creek  Baptist  Church,  Rev.  J.  Peacock,  pastor; 
and  Lot's  Creek  Baptist  Church,  Rev.  Henry  Cook, 
pastor,  45  members. 

To  show  the  comparative  growth  of  this  First  Church, 
we  give  them  as  reported  again  in  January,  1804,  in 
their  order :  First  Colored,  membership  476  ;  Newing- 
ton,  23;  Savannah  Baptist,  77;  Second  Colored,  230; 
Ogeechee,  276;  Black  Creek,  96;  Lot's  Creek,  59. 
Such  were  the  blessings  of  God  showered  upon  the  de- 
nomination this  year  that  the  Association  adjourned  to 
meet  again  in  November,  when  five  other  churches 
from  across  the  river  in  South  Carolina  joined  them. 
This  church  reported  at  that  meeting  having  baptized 
107;  membership,  544;  lost  by  death,  33,  21  of  whom 
perished  in  a  storm  that  winter.  The  other  two 
churches  she  organized  were  also  blessed  with  increase. 
The  Second  Colored  had  baptized  that  year  29,  and  the 
Ogeechee,  47.  These  figures  will  simply  show  that  in 
the  zeal  inspired  by  this  union  of  churches  and  minis- 
ters of  Christ  our  Lord  seemed  to  show  his  purpose 
to  keep  this  old  mother-church  of  the  seaboard  of 
Georgia  in  the  van  of  the  army  of  Christian  progress, 
— even  at  this  early  day's  dawn  of  hope  for  the  race  in 
America. 


JN  NORTH  AMERICA.  61 

Tlie  thoughts  of  the  elder  members,  at  least,  must 
have  at  this  period  run  liigh  with  expectation  of  what 
God  would  do  for  them,  seeing  Avhat  he  had  done,  as 
their  minds  went  back  to  tiie  days  of  Buncombe  Hill 
(as  the  place  of  their  first  worship  was  called)  and 
Brampton's  Barn,  the  scene  of  their  struggles  with 
faith  in  those  times  of  persecutions  and  trials.  But 
now  they  have  a  comparatively  comfortable  house  of 
worshij),  and  an  out-house  for  rest  and  refreshment; 
both  small  and  extremely  ])lain,  but  upon  ground  of 
their  own,  though  held  in  trust  by  friends  more  favored 
in  life.  Their  aged  shepherd  is  also  sheltered  in  his 
own  cottage  near  the  house  of  God  and  the  gathering- 
place  of  the  sheep  of  his  fold. 

'Tis  Christmas  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  1802,  a 
season  when  all  have  liberty  to  visit  the  city  from  the 
plantations.  Their  leading  brethren  in  the  city,  their 
watchmen  from  the  plantation  societies,  are  all  together 
upon  this  to  them  holy  ground.  The  fold  has  been 
divided  in  the  interest  of  the  cause  of  Christ.  Their 
old  shepherd  seems  in  the  zenith  of  ministerial  glory. 
The  noble  among  the  whites  respect  and  show  honor  to 
him.  Few — very  few,  'tis  true — call  him  brother,  as 
they  agreed  to  address  each  other  in  associational  meet- 
ings. All  is  aglow  with  peace  and  joy,  and  amid  all 
this — wonderful  change  from  their  past  dark  day  of 
trial — the  two  churches  were  organized,  two  new  rain- 
4 


62        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

isters  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  Lord,  new  deacons 
and  watchmen  created,  brethren  in  hnmble  stations 
promoted.  "  Truly  the  Lord  reigns,  let  all  the  earth 
rejoice."  What  a  transition!  "According  to  this 
time  it  shall  be  said  of  Jacob  and  of  Israel,  what  hath 
God  wrought?"  It  may  truly  be  said  that  in  the  dark 
days  this  church  has  seen  and  passed  through  since 
this  period,  the  brightness  of  the  hope  wrought  in  the 
souls  of  these  people  in  the  closing  days  of  1802  and 
the  opening  of  1803  may  have  been  dimmed,  but  has 
never  died  out  to  the  present  day. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  63 


CHAPTER    IV. 


We  have  but  little  of  the  history  of  this  church,  after 
the  events  of  the  last  chapter,  except  so  far  as,  like  the 
two  other  churches  wiiolly  of  colored  membership,  hold- 
ing their  positions  in  the  Savannah  Association,  and 
their  routine  of  Sunday  worship  three  times  a  day, — 
that  is,  early  morning  prayer-meeting  at  sunrise,  preach- 
ing at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  Very  seldom  were  night  services 
held,  unless  some  of  the  white  ministers  preached 
to  them.  Even  then  such  meetings  had  to  be  early 
and  of  short  duration,  for  by  rule  the  drum  of  the 
city's  patrol  guard  must  beat  at  eight  o'clock  in  winter 
and  at  nine  in  summer,  and  the  said  drum  commenced 
half  an  hour  earlier  and  beat  at  intervals  of  about 
ten  minutes,  the  last  roll  ceasing  at  the  striking  of 
the  hour.  By  this  time  every  slave  or  person  of  color 
must  be  in-doors,  and  if  found  out  fifteen  minutes 
after  drum-beat  they  were  taken  to  the  guard -house, 
and  there  kept  confined  until  the  owner  or  employer 
was  notified  the  next  morning  to  call  and  release 
their  servant,  at  a  cost  of  one  dollar  for  keeping 
him  in  custody,  and  if  not  willing  to  pay  the  fee,  the 


64       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

servant  was  whipped  and  let  out.  There  were  ex- 
ceptions to  this  law  in  cases  where  the  servant  pre- 
sented to  said  guard  a  written  permit  from  his 
owner,  employer,  or  (if  a  free  person)  his  guardian, 
to  pass  him  until  ten  o'clock  p.m.  Some  owners 
allowed  their  servants  to  hire  their  time,  paying  the 
wages  earned  to  them  each  week  or  month,  and  ex- 
tended the  terms  of  these  passes  accordingly;  that  is, 
when  the  servant  came  and  paid  up  the  sum  required 
he  was  given  a  new  ticket,  as  the  common  expression 
was;  but  it  was  actually  granting  certain  limited 
liberty,  based  on  good  behavior  as  a  slave. 

But  to  return  to  the  general  permission  of  church 
service,  they  were  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  for,  be  it 
remembered,  the  statute  laws  of  the  State  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  city  forbade  the  slaves  to  assemble 
together  for  any  purpose  (except  funerals)  to  the 
number  of  seven  without  the  presence  of  a  white 
person,  under  penalty  of  fine  or  whipping  with  stripes, 
yet  under  these  regulations  the  church  could  find 
pleasure  and  comfort.  The  larger  number  felt,  and 
so  expressed  themselves  as  often  as  they  met,  that 
though  in  this  world  they  had  but  little  to  hope  for, 
they  still  possessed  within  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  indeed  a  joy  every 
three  months  to  come  to  the  table  of  their  Lord  and 
commemorate  his  dying  love  for  them,  his  risen  power 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  65 

to  redeem  and  save  them.  So  the  even  tenor  of  their 
permitted  custom  went  on.  The  wliite  ministers  of 
Savannah,  and  the  Carolina  churches  associated  with 
tliera,  were  often  and  earnestly  counselling  to  devise 
means  for  establishing  educational  facilities  for  their 
race  and  missionary  work  for  the  denomination,  and 
constantly  had  the  prayers  of  our  colored  churches  for 
their  success,  notwithstanding  being  well  aware  that 
they  could  not  share  in  its  benefits,  neither  themselves 
nor  their  posterity,  and  much  was  being  done  in  that 
direction.  None  were  more  zealous  and  self-sacrificing 
in  that  work  than  their  friend  and  brother,  llev.  Dr. 
Holcombe,  who  often  advised  with  and  counselled  his 
colored  brethren  in  their  special  work.  The  number 
of  churches  composed  of  mixed  membership  and  con- 
gregations with  white  pastors  increased  within  their 
bounds,  until,  in  the  year  1810,  the  number  of  them 
uniting  with  the  Association  was  seven  in  addition  to 
the  number  organized  at  first;*  conspicuous  among  this 
latter  number  was  the  Sunbury  Church,  constituted 
by  Rev.  Charles  O.  Screnen,  of  Liberty  County,  who 
associated  in  1805,  and  in  whose  constituency  the 
colored  members  were  largely  in  the  majority,  all  of 
whom  had  become  converted  by  his  preaching  and  were 

*Tho.  name  of  the  Association  was  now  changed  to  the  Savan- 
nah liiver. 


66        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

baptized  by  him.  Dr.  Henry  Holcombe  states  in  this 
year,  1810  (without  giving  particular  names),  "That 
the  colored  Baptists  in  and  near  Savannah  numbered 
1500,  and  at  their  quarterly  communions,  when  they 
received  new  members,  their  numbers  were  augmented 
by  10,  20,  30,  40,  50,  and  in  one  instance  64,  at  a 
time;  and  it  is  but  fair  to  presume,  from  connecting 
events,  that  the  largest  addition  was  made  to  this  First 
Church." 

Their  pastor.  Rev.  Andrew  Bryan,  having  become 
feeble  from  age  and  with  long  and  industrious  service, 
often  had  to  be  assisted  in  his  ministrations  by  the 
younger  preachers.  Evans  Grate,  who  had  been  dis- 
missed, and  became  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  Second 
Church  at  its  organization,  proved  to  be  a  man  after 
the  requirements  of  the  apostles  for  this  office,  and 
seems  to  have  partaken  much  of  the  spirit  of  his  first 
pastor.  Andrew  Cox  Marshall,  the  son  of  Rev. 
Bryan's  sister,  had,  some  years  before  this  time, 
been  converted  and  joined  the  Second  Church,  and 
was  baptized  by  Rev.  Henry  Cunningham.  He  was 
well  advanced  in  years,  of  much  worldly  experience, 
of  fine  intellect,  and  a  little  learned  in  letters;  and, 
like  the  Apostle  Paul  of  old,  he  straightway  after  his 
conversion  commenced  to  preach  the  gospel,  so  that 
Brethren  Evans  Grate  and  Andrew  C.  Marshall  were 
duly  licensed  by  their  church  to  preach ;  but  the  latter 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  67 

was  called  soon  after  ordination  as  assistant  to  his 
aged  and  enfeebled  but  venerated  uncle,  of  whom  Dr. 
Holcombe,  in  writing  of  his  friend,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century,  said :  "  Andrew  Bryan  not  only 
honorably  obtained  liberty  but  a  handsome  estate. 
His  fleecy  and  well-set  locks  have  been  bleached  by 
eighty  winters;  and  dressed  like  a  bishop  of  London, 
he  rides,  moderately  corpulent,  in  his  chair,  and,  with 
manly  features  of  a  jetty  hue,  fills  any  person  to  whom 
he  gracefully  bows  with  pleasure  and  veneration,  by 
displaying  in  smiles  even  rows  of  natural  teeth  white 
as  ivory,  and  a  pair  of  fine  black  eyes  sparkling  with 
intelligence,  benevolence,  and  joy.  In  giving  daily 
thanks  to  God  for  his  mercies  my  aged  friend  seldom 
forgets  to  mention  the  favorable  change  that  has  of 
late  years  appeared  through  the  lower  parts  of  Georgia 
as  well  as  South  Carolina  in  the  treatment  of  ser- 
vants." We  cannot  doubt  that  this  high  encomium 
is  just  and  true ;  that  this  pen-picture  of  him  is  faith- 
fully drawn  by  one  who  knew  him  well  and  whose 
high  character  precludes  the  thought  of  flattery. 

The  assistance  Mr.  Bryan  now  had  from  his  nephew, 
Andrew,  much  relieved  his  arduous  labors  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  preaching  and  administering  the  ordinances. 
On  those  occasions  the  old  bishop  (as  he  was  sometimes 
called)  might  be  seen  at  the  river  seated  in  his  chair 
(so  the  two-wheeled  carriage  drawn  by  a  horse  and  in 


(38        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

which  he  now  ahnost  constantly  rode  was  called).  As 
the  candidates  were  immersed  by  his  assistant  and  rose 
again  from  their  watery  grave,  his  silver  hair,  smiling 
face,  and  hearty  amen  spread  a  halo  around  the  scene. 
Himself  gave  them  the  charge  relative  to  their  future 
conduct  in  life;  extending  the  hand  of  fellowsiiip  and 
welcome  to  the  table  of  our  Lord  after  baptism,  in  the 
presence  of  the  ready-prepared  communion-table,  the 
members  in  their  seats  and  the  newly-born  and  bap- 
tized all  standing.  At  such  times  the  scene  was 
solemn  and  impressive  in  the  extreme,  as  the  aged 
man's  words  dropped  upon  the  ear  and  entered  the 
heart  and  mind,  subduing  the  will.  He  was  ever  a 
strict  disciplinarian.  He  watched  for  his  people's  souls, 
and,  as  far  as  he  could,  tried  to  ameliorate  their  con- 
dition, and  this  was  a  duty  that  he  was  not  relieved 
from  so  long  as  he  lived  and  was  able  to  go  upon  his 
pastoral  visits.  These  pastoral  visits  were  twofold, — 
to  the  sick  or  those  in  distress  of  any  kind,  or  to  those 
unusually  absent  from  the  appointed  Sabbath  services, 
— and  equally  as  often  was  he  sent  for  by  the  mistress  to 
correct  an  offending  maid  or  by  a  master  for  a  servant. 
Such,  in  the  latter  days  of  his  ministry,  was  the  respect 
for  him  that  the  best  citizens  found  that  his  Christian 
discipline  and  fatherly  advice  had  such  eifect  upon 
their  servants  that  the  being  threatened  with  a  de- 
barring  of    tiieir   Christian    privileges   insured    their 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  69 

faithfulness  to  the  household  duties  better  than  the  old 
harsher  means.  Thus,  between  the  visits  to  the  parlor 
of  the  mistress  and  the  humbler  quarters  of  the  ser- 
vants, the  minister  of  God  had  peculiar  duties  to  per- 
form, and  it  had  to  be  done  with  great  prudence  to  be 
beneficial  to  all.  Yet  the  system  proved  good  in  many 
ways  when  properly  executed,  and  even  after  Mr. 
Bryan's  day  the  same  continued  with  beneficial  effect 
to  many  households ;  and,  though  this  may  appear  an 
anomaly,  it  has  saved  many  a  member  of  the  church 
from  being  sold  away,  from  a  whipping,  or  other  severe 
punishment,  and  many  wives  and  husbands  from  being 
separated  by  being  sold  from  each  other.  These  inci- 
dents are  not  reverted  to  with  any  vindictive  purpose 
whatever,  but  simply  that  it  may  appear  how  fully  the 
religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  administered  by  his  called 
and  chosen  servants,  meets  the  requirements  of  every 
clime,  caste,  condition,  or  circumstance,  be  it  ever  so 
intricate  or  difficult.  Faith,  hope,  and  charity  over- 
come for  all. 

How  like  the  sunshine  driving  away  the  clouds  must 
it  have  appeared  on  so  many  of  these  occasions,  to  see 
his  smiling,  cheerful  face  come  into  the  yard,  bowing, 
with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  going  up  to  hear  the  com- 
plaints against  any  of  his  members,  and  gracefully  re- 
tiring, get  in  his  chair  and  ride  away  after  sometimes 
an  hour's  vi.-^it,  and  none,  perhaps,  but  himself  know- 


70        THE   FIRST  COLORED    BAPTIST  CHURCH 

ing  what  he  had  said, — part  to  mistress,  part  to  maid, 
— suited  to  the  case  in  question;  but  generally  leav- 
ing reconciliation,  peace,  and  confidence  in  the  rec- 
titude of  his  actions.  To  estimate  the  consequences  of 
these  visits  would  take  an  infinite  mind  and  almost 
eternity  to  reveal,  when  we  consider  what  may  have 
been  or  was  prevented  from  being  done,  and  thus 
changing  evil  consequences  for  good. 

It  is  remarkable  that  both  Grate  and  Marshall,  who 
assisted  Mr.  Bryan  in  his  later  days,  were  members  not 
of  his  church  but  of  tlie  Second,  and  there  is  no  record 
that  either  of  them  ever  changed  their  meml)ership  to 
this  church ;  though  Mr.  Grate  had  once  been  a  mem- 
ber and  dismissed  upon  the  organization  of  the  Second 
Colored  Church.  Mr.  Marshall  never  was  a  member 
of  this  old  church.  As  the  old  shepherd  drew  near 
to  the  close  of  his  earthly  labors,  like  Moses  of  old, 
he  seemed  to  be  desirous  of  leaving  the  flock  over 
which  the  Lord  had  made  him  the  overseer  in  the  keep- 
ing of  one  chosen  of  God,  as  in  the  case  of  Moses  and 
Joshua,  and  seemed  to  have  fixed  his  mind  upon  Mr. 
Marshall;  doubtless,  not  because  he  was  his  nephew, 
but  that  he  saw  the  promise  of  that  ability  which  de- 
veloped so  fully  in  after  years ;  and  he  frequently  so 
expressed  it  to  his  church  that  he  believed  it  was  the 
will  of  God,  and  it  certainly  was  his  desire.  As  will 
be  seen,  the  wish  bore  great  weight  after  his  demise. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  7l 

Mr.  Bryan's  decline  was  gradual.  Gently  the  hand 
of  his  God  led  him  down  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  and  from  his  ninetieth  year  he  was 
constantly  looking  for  and  speaking  of  his  departure, 
which  came  uot  until  he  was,  as  he  supposed,  ninety- 
six.  Yet  he  had  made  all  the  preparation  a  man  of 
his  years  and  circumstances  could,  and  when  the  time 
came  it  found  him  ready,  willing,  and  waiting. 

"  Tranquil,  amid  alarms, 

It  found  him  on  the  field  ; 
A  veteran  slumbering  on  his  arms, 

Beneath  his  red-cross  shield.  ' 

"The  pains  of  death  are  past; 
Labor  and  sorrow  cease, 
And  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last, 
His  soul  is  found  in  peace." 

He  fell  asleep  in  Jesus  October  6,  a.d.  1812. 

To  comprehend  the  death  of  this  man  of  God  prop- 
erly, and  its  effect  and  feeling  upon  a  people  whom  he 
led  in  religious  principles,  is  to  consider  the  parallel  in 
the  history  of  Moses  and  the  Israelites;  and  it  is  per- 
haps the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  that  one 
of  tliis  despised  race  commanded  the  respect  of  a 
community  and  an  acknowledgment  that  in  the  negro 
character,  even  under  the  conditions  of  slavery,  there 
is  true  manhood  and  virtue  developed  by  Christianity. 


72       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  city  and  neighboring  plantations  turned  out  to 
honor  this  noble  man,  whose  life  was  spent  in  inculcat- 
ing charity  in  the  servant  class,  to  the  extent  that  the 
men  with  no  other  education  save  imitating  their  mas- 
ters and  the  maids  their  mistresses  produced  a  class 
and  society  in  the  community  that  was  remarkably 
interesting,  to  say  the  least.  As  servants,  their  integ- 
rity was  a  security  to  the  master  in  his  goods,  and  their 
warm  and  aifectionate  character  infusing  itself  in  the 
white  children  whom  they  nursed,  produced  a  type 
of  manhood  and  womanhood  in  both  races  that  is  not 
seen  in  this  day.  Truly,  in  planting  this  church,  the 
seed  of  grace  sown  in  this  man's  heart  (Mr.  Bryan's) 
was  good,  and  the  tree  and  the  fruit  good.  "  The 
tree  is  known  by  its  fruit." 

In  the  plain,  humble  house  of  worship  which  he 
built  for  God,  his  body  lay  encased  in  a  neat  but  plain 
black  coffin  constructed  by  the  hands  of  his  own  race 
and  members  of  his  church,  and  like  his  Master, 
Jesus,  "he  made  his  grave  with  the  wicked,  and 
with  the  rich  in  his  death ;  beaiuse  he  had  done  no 
violence,  neither  was  any  deceit  in  his  mouth.'"* 

Rev.  Henry  Kollock,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Presbyterian  Church,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson, 
of    the   Savannah    Baptist   Church,   condescended    to 

*  Isaiah,  liii.  9. 


IN^  NORTH  AMERICA.  73 

enter  his  luimblc  pulpit,  and  bore  testimony  to  his 
worth,  and  made  suitable  addresses  to  his  people. 
He  was  followed  to  his  grave  by  over  five  thousand 
persons;  and  at  that  spot,  in  the  common  cemetery  for 
colored  persons  (located  then  where  now  stands  a 
principal  part  of  the  city,  and  notably  St.  Joseph's 
Hospital),  other  addresses  were  delivered  by  Thomas 
Williams,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  white  citizen,  and 
Rev.  Henry  Cunningham,  who  committed  the  sacred 
remains  to  their  last  resting-place,  reciting  the  beau- 
tiful and  impressive  funeral  service  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  his  weeping  members  and  friends  singing  one 
of  the  songs  of  Zion  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  And 
so  ended  the  glorious  life,  death,  and  burial  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Bryan,  one  who  had  "  fought  a  good  fight, 
finished  his  course,  kept  the  faith,  and  received  a 
crown  of  righteousness." 

His  demise  being  reported  to  the  Association  that 
year,  "  I  find  in  their  minutes,"  says  Dr.  Benedict, 
"  the  following  article  : 

"'This  Association  is  sensibly  affected  by  the  death 
of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Bryan,  a  man  of  color,  and 
pastor  of  the  First  Colored  Church  in  Savannah.  This 
son  of  Africa,  after  suifering  inexpressible  persecutions 
in  the  cause  of  his  divine  Master,  was  at  length  per- 
mitted to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  ministry  among 
his  colored    friends  in  peace  and  quiet ;   hundreds  of 


74        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

whom  through  his  instrumentality  were  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  He  closed 
his  extensive,  useful,  and  amazingly  luminous  course 
in  the  lovely  exercise  of  faith  and  in  the  joyful  hope 
of  a  happy  immortality.'  "* 

In  after  years  his  grave  was  neatly  bricked  over, 
and  a  large  tabulated  marble  stone  was  laid  thereon, 
with  this  inscription,  no  doubt  composed  by  his 
nephew,  Andrew  C.  Marshall. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Andrew  Bryan,  pastor  of  the  First 
Colored  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah.  God  was  pleased  to  lay  his 
honor  near  his  lieart,  and'so  impressed  the  worth  and  weight  of 
souls  upon  his  mind,  that  he  was  constrained  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  a  dying  world,  particularly  to  the  sable  sons  of 
Africa.  Though  lie  labored  under  many  disadvantages,  yet, 
taught  in  the  school  of  Christ,  he  was  able  to  bring  new  and  old 
out  of  the  treasury,  and  he  has  done  more  good  among  the  poor 
slaves  than  all  the  learned  doctors  in  America.  He  was  im- 
prisoned for  the  gospel  and  without  ceremony  was  severely 
whipped,  but  while  under  the  lash  he  told  his  persecutors,  he 
rejoiced  not  only  to  be  whipped,  but  he  was  willing  to  suffer 
death  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  continued  to  preach  the  gospel 
until  Oct.  6th,  1812.  He  was  supposed  to  be  ninety-six  years  of 
age.  His  remains  were  interred  with  peculiar  respect.  An  ad- 
dress was  delivered  by  Kevs.  Mr.  Johnson,  Dr.  Kollock,  Thomas 
Williams,  and  Henry  Cunningham.    He  was  an  honor  to  human 

*  "  General  History  of  the  Baptist  Denomination  in  America," 
etc.,  1855,  p.  7.39. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  75 

nuturc,  an  ornament  to  religion,  and  a  friend  to  mankind.     His 
memory  is  still  precious  in  the  mind  of  the  living: 

"  Afflicted  long  he  bore  the  rod, 
With  calm  submission  to  his  maker,  God. 
His  mind  was  tranquil  and  serene, 
No  terror  in  his  looks  was  seen. 
A -Saviour's  smile  dispelled  the  gloom 
And  soothed  his  passage  to  the  tomb. 

•"  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me,  Write,  from 
henceforth  blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord:  even  so 
saith  the  spirit,  for  they  rest  from  their  labors. 

"  This  stone  is  erected  by  the  First  Colored  Church  as  a  token 
of  love  for  their  most  faithful  pastor,  a.d.  1821." 

Born  a  slave  near  Goose  Creek,  sixteen  miles  from 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Bryan  had  purchased 
his  own  freedom, — for  how  much  we  do  not  know, — 
also  that  of  his  wife  and  an  only  daughter ;  besides, 
the  estate  which  he  left  was  valued  at  about  three 
thousand  dollars. 


76        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  last  chapter  closes  the  history  of  the  church  as 
we  find  it  up  to  1812,  under  an  administration  by  Mr. 
Bryan  of  twenty-four  years,  though  he  was  actually 
preaching  four  years  previous,  making  his  labors  in 
the  gospel  twenty-eight  years.  Rev.  A.  C.  Marshall 
was  supplying  the  church  as  assistant  pastor,  and  was 
expected  to  fill  the  place  of  his  honored  uncle  when- 
ever the  church  should  call  a  pastor.  This  did  not 
take  place,  however,  for  over  two  years  after  Mr. 
Bryan's  death.  Mr.  Marshall  seems  to  have  become 
disqualified  in  some  way.  He  was  now  a  man  of  busi- 
ness in  draying,  and  had  the  patronage  of  most  of  the 
first  merchants  of  the  city.  It  was  a  time  when  this 
country  had  just  become  engaged  again  in  war  with 
England,  so  it  may  have  been  a  matter  of  his  business 
that  prevented  his  continuing  his  service  to  the  church. 
However,  we  find  Rev.  Evans  Grate  supplying  the 
church  for  over  two  years,  yet  never  called  as  the  pas- 
tor ;  but  some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1814, 
or  the  beginning  of  1815,  the  church  did  set  apart  a 
Sabbath-day  in  which  to  fast  and  pray  that  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church  would  direct  their  choice  of  a 
successor  to  their  deceased  pastor,  whose  memory  they 


REV.    ANDREW   C.    MARSHALL. 


Page  7f> 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  77 

still  revered.  There  was  no  preaching  on  that  day. 
Mr.  Grate  was  present,  and  as  a  meek  and  humble 
Christian  man,  though  not  very  learned  or  able  as  a 
jninister,  he  had  won  the  love  and  confidence  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  members  of  the  church ;  and  so, 
for  the  first  time  in  her  history,  having  to  make  choice 
between  two  candidates  for  her  pulpit,  there  was  very 
naturally  an  event  of  some  moment  among  them  that 
day.  Rev.  Mr.  Marshall  seems  to  have  had  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  church,  and  that  his  call  was  in 
the  hands  of  God  and  his  brethren.  He  absented 
himself  on  the  occasion  and  went  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  church  proceeded  to 
the  business  of  calling  a  pastor,  and  many  strong  ap- 
peals were  made  in  behalf  of  the  latter  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  wish  of  their  old  shepherd,  his  uncle. 
Great  fears  were  entertained  by  those  of  his  friends 
who  really  desired  Mr.  Marshall  as  their  pastor  that 
Mr.  Grate  would  defeat  him;  but  when  the  vote  was 
taken,  though  a  large  body  rose  in  his  favor,  Mr. 
Marshall  was  found  to  have  received  a  majority,  and 
became  their  pastor.* 

It  is  commendable  to  the  spirit  of  all  that  there 


*  Memoirs  of  two  old  members  actively  present  on  the  occa- 
sion, Samuel  Cope  and  Jack  Bourke,  corroborated  by  Sisters 
Grace  Hague  and  Dianah  Wallace. 


78        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

was  no  bad  feeling  engendered  by  the  defeat  of  Mr. 
Grate,  as  he  continued  an  assistant  in  this  church, 
and  performed  evangelistic  work  many  years  after ; 
and  no  division  or  dissension  ever  arose  out  of  this 
or  any  later  work  of  the  ministry  on  his  part.  The 
church  at  this  period  was  strong  and  prosperous. 
Many  young  men  and  women  of  natural  ability  and 
intelligence  became  connected  with  the  church,  and  the 
number  of  her  members  largely  increased.  Yea,  this 
seems  to  have  been  a  time  when  the  Lord  favored  his 
Zion,  when  the  set  time  had  come,  though  we  can  only 
draw  these  facts  from  the  figures  given  at  a  subsequent 
period,  having  no  statistics  to  guide  us  until  1818, 
when  it  became  necessary  for  the  Savannah  River  As- 
sociation to  dissolve  the  union  which  was  organized 
in  1802.  The  division  was  mutual,  the  South  Caro- 
lina churches  withdrawing  to  form  an  organization  of 
their  own  in  that  State,  and  the  Georgia  churches  to 
meet  at  Sunbury,  in  Liberty  County,  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1818,  to  organize  a  new  Association,  which 
took  the  name  of  the  village  in  which  it  was  held 
and  the  church  with  whom  they  met,  the  Sunbury 
Baptist  Church,  Rev.  Charles  O.  Screnen  being  the 
pastor.  The  churches  at  this  organization  were  the 
First  Colored,  the  Savannah  (white),  Second  Colored, 
Great  Ogcechce,  and  Sunbury,  mixed  membership. 
This   church    was   represented    by    Deacons   Adam 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  79 

Johnson  and  Josiah  Lloyd,  and  reported  her  member- 
ship as  17]  2.  The  Second  Colored  Church  reported 
538,  and  the  Great  Ogeechee  460.  The  First  was 
represented  by  Rev.  Henry  Cunningham,  Deacons 
Thomas  Anderson  and  George  Carter;  the  latter  by 
Deacon  John  Cubbage.  So  we  may  clearly  see  that  this 
church  had  continued  increasing  her  numbers ;  doubt- 
less the  largest  portion  were  from  the  river  planta- 
tions near  the  city,  but  her  popularity  as  the  mother 
church — the  Jerusalem  of  the  colored  race — kept  her, 
of  course,  in  the  lead,  as  has  been  said;  so  that  in  1810, 
when  the  three  colored  churches'  membership  combined 
was  about  1500,  this  church  comprised  over  half.  So 
now  it  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  figures  above, — 
which  continued  for  many  years, — as  the  records  of  the 
Sunbury  Association,  which  we  have  in  full,  will  show. 
At  the  time  of  organization  of  this  Association  Mr. 
Marskall  had  been  the  pastor  of  this  church  about 
three  years.  He  seemg  to  have  inherited  the  power 
and  popularity  of  his  uncle;  was  prosperous  in  his 
ministry  of  the  gospel  and  in  his  temporal  affairs ; 
was  dearly  beloved  by  his  own  people,  and  was  greatly 
respected  by  the  whites,  among  whom  he  had  many 
warm  and  influential  friends,  who  aided  him  materially 
in  his  business  as  a  drayman  of  their  mercantile  goods. 
Thus  favored  of  God  and  man,  is  it  not  natural  that 
he  should  become  a  shining  mark  for  the  adversary's 


80        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

spirit  to  shoot  at?  Yet  we  will  see  that  his  "bow 
abode  in  strength,  though  the  archers  have  sorely 
grieved  him,  and  shot  at  hira,  and  hated  him."*  Mr. 
Marshall  ever  showed  great  deference  for  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  the  country,  combined  with  a  high 
measure  of  self-respect,  and  frequently  held  to  his  own 
opinions  with  decision  and  inflexibility.  \Yith  no 
education,  having  barely  by  his  own  persistent  efforts 
learned  to  read,  but  never  being  able  to  write,  he  be- 
came by  practice  a  good  reader,  and  procuring  such 
books  as  he  could,  under  the  circumstances,  became  an 
'earnest  student,  as  we  have  often  heard  him  tell.  A 
lover  of  truth,  he  sought  it  with  his  soul.  "Get  wis- 
dom, get  knowledge,  but  with  all  thy  getting  get  un- 
derstanding," was  his  motto ;  thus  he  essayed  to  dive 
deep  into  theology,  and  the  Bible  became  his  principal 
study,  and  Dr.  Gill's  Commentaries  one  of  his  main 
guides.  It  will  be  observed  that  he  did  not  represent 
the  church  at  the  organizatiou,  of  the  Sunbury  Asso- 
ciation and  for  several  years  after.  This  was  about 
the  time  when  he  became  somewhat  unpopular  with 
the  white  brethren  of  his  own  denomination,  on  ac- 
count of  what  they  termed  his  extreme  views  of 
theology,  or  the  doctrines  which  he  then  preached, 
which  bordered  on  Antinomianism,  or,  in  the  plainer 

*  Genesis  xlix.  23. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  81 

sense  of  the  term,  against  law, — a  doctrine  which  hehl 
that  the  law  is  not  a  rule  of  life  to  believers  under  the 
gospel  dispensation.  The  appellation  is  generally 
given  to  those  who  carry  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  without  works  to  such  extreme  as  to  separate 
practical  holiness  from  true  believing,  and  injure,  if 
not  wholly  destroy,  every  obligation  to  moral  obedi- 
ence. This  was  not  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Marshall,  by 
any  means ;  but  the  construction  his  jealous  opponents 
put  upon  his  efforts  to  explain  to  his  peo[)le  the  differ- 
ence between  the  law  and  the  gospel  of  faith  in  the 
atoning  merits  of  Christ,  by  which  we  obtain  salva- 
tion. Of  course,  while  among  the  white  people  he 
was  unpopular  on  account  of  the  doctrines  he  essayed 
to  preach, — and  which  only  the  learned  in  the  Script- 
ures could  understand, — he  became  the  more  popular 
among  his  own  race  and  people,  because  he  was  able 
to  preach  such  doctrines,  whether  sound  or  not.  They 
felt  a  just  pride  in  his  ability  to  compete  with  the 
whites,  to  the  extent  that  they  were  jealous  of  his 
power  in  expounding  the  Scriptures,  and  so  drew  his 
church  so  near  to  him  that  they  were  willing  to  suffer 
all  things  with  him  rather  than  give  him  up.  But 
this  was  not  the  only  trial  the  tempter  made  him 
undergo.  About  the  same  period  (from  1819  to  1821), 
while  engaged  in  his  secular  avocations,  and  having 
accumulated  a  goodly  portion  of  money  (he  was  build- 


82        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

ing  himself  a  two-story  brick  house, — a  rather  lofty 
undertaking  for  a  man  of  color  in  that  day),  in  an 
unguarded  moment  he  violated  the  law  (unintention- 
ally, no  doubt)  by  purchasing  from  slaves  having  no 
tickets  with  permission  to  trade  or  sell ;  and  though 
many  white  people  had  laid  the  foundation  of  great 
success  in  business  before,  as  many  others  have  done 
since,  by  contraband  trade  with  the  blacks,  the  ad- 
vantage was  taken  of  Mr.  Marshall's  inadvertency, 
it  happening  at  the  period  of  his  temporary  unpopu- 
larity, and  he  was  prosecuted  for  buying  some  bricks 
said  to  have  been  stolen  from  Mr.  McAlpin,  and 
was  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped  in  the  market- 
place. But  here  also  we  may  witness  the  power  of 
God  and  the  means  of  his  grace  to  save,  by  using  man 
against  man,  even  as  steel  will  foil  steel.  Mr.  Richard 
Richardson,  the  partner  in  commercial  business  with 
Mr.  Robert  Bolton,  to  whom  Mr.  Marshall  belonged 
about  the  time  he  was  converted,  had  bought  him  that 
he  might  become  free,  and  now  further  showed  his 
true  friendship  and  deep  interest  in  him  by  coming 
forward  at  this  time  of  trouble.  He  interceded  in  the 
courts,  and  put  in  his  claim  as  master  in  behalf  of  a 
valuable  servant  whose  interests  he  was  determined 
to  see  should  not  suffer;  and  though  he  failed  in  an 
effort  to  release  him  by  the  payment  of  money,  as  he 
was  fully  able   and  willing  to   do,  seeing   it  was  the 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  83 

determined  purpose  of  the  prosecutors  to  punish  and 
disgrace  this  servant  of  God,  Mr.  Richardson,  by  his 
influence,  enlisted  the  sympathy  of  several  of  the  best 
citizens,  who  declared  they  would  not  allow  him  to  be 
cruelly  punished,  and  they  went  to  the  place  of  execu- 
tion of  the  sentence,  and  the  constable  was  instructed 
that  he  should  not  scratch  his  skin  or  draw  his  blood. 
His  old  master  stood  at  his  side  to  see  that  these  pre- 
cautions were  faithfully  and  humanely  carried  out,* 
and  thus  the  whipping  was  only  a  semblance. 

These  severe  trials  of  his  own  faith,  and  the  at- 
tempt made  by  the  devil  and  his  agents  to  injure  the 
church  through  his  disgrace,  wholly  failed ;  she  stood 
firm  in  these  evil  days.  The  people  said  but  little 
on  so  momentous  an  occasion,  but  drew  nearer  to- 
gether, it  seems,  and  shielded  him  with  prayer;  and 
he  soon  came  forth  again  brighter  and  stronger  for 
having  come  through  the  fire,  as  his  old  uncle  and 
revered  predecessor  had  done  before  him,  and  to  whose 
memory  he  and  the  church  this  very  year  erected  the 
tablet  and  wrote  the  epitaph  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter.  Doubtless  this  trial  called  his  mind  to  the 
duty  he  and  they  owed  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Bryan 
after  nine  years, — now  that 

"  He  knew  what  sore  temptations  meant, 
For  he  had  felt  the  same." 

♦"Memoirs  of  A.  Marshall,"  by  J.  P.  Tustin^  D.D. 


84        THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  church  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  what 
the  pastor  did,  and  though  he  was  crippled  in  his 
ministry  for  awhile,  they  managed  to  go  right  on, 
Brother  Evans  Grate  again  coming  to  their  aid  and 
Rev.  Henry  Cunningham  assisting  them.  She  was 
not  reported  in  the  Association  in  1819,  but  in  the 
year  1820  was  again  represented  by  Deacons  Adam 
Johnson  and  Adam  Sheftall,  and  reported  her  mem- 
bersiiip  1836,  showing  a  gain  in  the'  two  years  of  124 
members,  notwithstanding  the  trials  through  which  she 
had  passed.  The  Second  Colored  Church  in  this  year 
reported  a  larger  increase,  her  membership  being  736, 
a  gain  of  198 ;  Rev.  Henry  Cunningham  and  Deacons 
Thomas  Anderson  and  John  Devoux  representing  her. 
The  Great  Ogeechee  was  not  represented,  but  the  mem- 
bership was  the  same  as  at  the  last  report,  460. 
In  1821,  Rev.  Evans  Grate  alone  represented  the 
church  in  the  Association,  and  the  membership  had 
increased  to  1916,  a  gain  of  80  for  the  year,  while  the 
Second  Church  membership  increased  to  822,  a  gain  of 
96,  and  the  Ogeechee  reported  the  membership  at  497, 
a  gain  this  year  of  37.  While  there  was  a  small 
increase  in  each  of  the  three  colored  churches  this 
year,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  lethargy  in  their  asso- 
ciational  interest.  Rev.  Messrs.  Grate  and  Cunning- 
ham represented  the  First  and  Second  Churches  alone, 
respectively,  and  the  Ogeechee  had  no  representative. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  85 

We  liave  given  but  tlie  names  of  the  pastor  and 
tlie  brethren  who  represented  the  cliurch  at  the 
associationul  meeting  heretofore,  yet  there  were  many- 
others  of  weight  and  intelligence  fully  equal  to  the 
task  of  filling  the  several  offices  of  the  church  assigned 
to  them,  and  were  ever  zealous  for  the  cause  of  their 
Lord.  Nothing  but  their  condition  of  moral  bondage 
prevented  them  from  displaying  their  gifts  and  ac- 
complishing much  good  to  his  glory,  and,  so  far  as 
they  were  permitted,  they  did  what  they  could.  The 
church  always  had  good  choirs  of  singers,  good  com- 
mittees of  deacons,  assisting  the  pastor  in  looking  after 
the  welfare  and  godly  walk  of  the  members,  visiting 
them  at  proper  times,  and  counselling  them  in  love  for 
their  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare,  at  such  times  as 
circumstances  would  safely  permit,  for  these  were  indeed 
times  when  the  injunction  of  our  Saviour,  "Behold, 
I  sent  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves :  be 
ye  therefore  wise  as  serpents,  and  harmless  as  doves,"* 
applied  with  much  force  to  them.  Among  the  most 
intelligent  men  and  women,  and  the  earnest  workers 
with  influence  among  the  people,  who  could  drop  a 
word  of  caution  at  times  among  their  fellows,  and 
prudently  allay  the  suspicions  of  wrong  in  the  minds 
of  the  whites  here  mentioned,  in  distinction  from  the 

*  Mathcw  X.  10. 
6 


86       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

more  general  class  of  members,  too  numerous  to  be 
named,  yet  who  did  their  full  share  cheerfully  for 
the  good  and  upbuilding  of  their  Zion  and  the  glory 
of  Christ,  we  may  name  of  those  times  Adam  John- 
son, deacon ;  Adam  Sheftall,  deacon ;  Josiah  Lloyd, 
deacon;  Jack  Simpson,  deacon;  Isaac  Beard,  Samp- 
son Walls,  Wm.  Campbell,  Jack  Bourk,  Samuel  Cope, 
Joseph  Clay,  Adam  Anderson,  Benjamin  Renier, 
Jack  Cohen,  Benjamin  Verderee,  Benjamin  King 
(deacon,  and  a  native  African),  Emanuel  Wand,  Gold- 
smith Lloyd,  Abram  Wallace;  and  among  the  noble 
women,  also,  Bash  Devoux  (who  attended  the  females 
at  baptism),  Grace  Hague  (who  was  baptized  by  Mr. 
Bryan,  and  lived  in  great  preservation  up  to  1885), 
Sarah  Nelson,  Betty  Williamson,  Elizabeth  Beard, 
Lesse  McFarland,  Rachel  Marshall  (wife  of  Deacon 
Johnson),  Hetty  Campbell,  Sally  Verderee,  Sarah 
Span,  Sarah  Wallace,  Lucretia  Dolly,  Diana  Wallace, 
Martha  Monger,  and  Sophia  Simpson. 

These,  with  perhaps  others,  were  persons  whose  cir- 
cumstances enabled  them  to  do  most  for  the  building 
up  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  whose  Christian  life 
and  zeal  brought  them  most  conspicuously  before  their 
brethren  and  the  world.  Some  among  them  had 
worked  out  their  time,  as  was  then  expressed  for  those 
who  had  purchased  their  freedom,  or  had  procured  it 
by  gift  from  their  owners  on  account  of  blood  relation- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  37 

ship  or  faithful  and  important  services  rendered. 
Some  were  allowed  to  hire  tlieir  time,  because  their 
owners  were  among  the  middle  or  poorer  classes  of 
whites,  who  invested  their  money  in  this  species  of 
property  as  an  investment  that  paid  the  best  interest 
upon  the  capital  surer  and  sooner.  Yet  out  of  each 
and  all  of  these  conditions  in  which  the  members  of 
the  church  were  situated,  they  were  doing  something 
for  God's  glory,  as  the  only  glory  they  had  in  the 
world,  the  advancing  of  the  light  and  liberty  of  the 
gospel  among  their  race;  and  thus  they  very  natu- 
rally vied  with  each  other  who  should  shine  brightest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  church  and  as  the  light  of  the 
world. 

Among  the  officers  of  the  church  Adam  Johnson 
early  became  a  man  of  commanding  influence.  His 
fine  stature,  over  six  feet  high,  and  otherwise  propor- 
tionately well  developed,  facial  features  regular,  a  head 
poised  upon  square  shoulders,  high,  broad  forehead,  de- 
noting intelligence  and  reverence,  with  always  a  grave 
demeanor,  a  dark-brown  complexion,  showing  some 
slight  mixture  of  white  blood,  but  in  all  a  fine  specimen 
of  the  negro  men  from  the  West  India  islands,  he 
being  born  in  the  British  West  India  island  of  New 
Providence.  Like  Mr.  Marshall,  and  others  among 
these  brethren,  he  was  only  able  to  read,  but  was  a  man 
of  profound  thought  and  judgment,  who   had  much 


88        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

more  concealed  in  the  depths  of  his  mind  than  was  seen 
upon  the  surface  by  his  actions;  thus  he  ever  stood 
more  prominent  in  the  church  than  any  other  out  of  the 
pulpit,  and  while  Jack  Simpson,  Josiah  Lloyd,  Adam 
Sheftall,  and  others  before  named,  held  prominent 
places  in  the  church,  Mr.  Johnson  is  thus  particularly 
mentioned  on  account  of  the  part  he  performed  in  this 
church's  history  for  over  forty  years.  Adam  Anderson 
and  Joseph  Clay  were  perhaps  better  learned  in 
letters  than  any  others  in  the  church  at  that  time,  for 
each  was  able  to  both  read  and  write  tolerably  well, 
and  what  little  record  of  the  church's  early  doings 
found  were  made  by  them  as  clerks.  The  pride  in 
their  ability  to  do  this  service,  too,  was  shared  by 
nearly  the  whole  people,  and  clothed  them  with  great 
dignity  in  their  day  and  made  them  the  objects  of 
emulation. 

Among  the  females  who  prominently  figured  in  the 
history  of  these  days  were:  first,  the  three  sisters  bap- 
tized by  Rev.  Mr.  Leyle  with  Father  Andrew  Bryan, 
— his  wife  Hannah,  Kate  Hogg,  and  Hagar  Simpson. 
We  have  little  history  of  the  work  done  by  these 
mothers  in  the  church.  No  doubt  they  did  what  they 
could,  judging  from  the  progress  made  in  that  early 
day;  but  the  most  authentic  history  we  have  of  the 
work  of  these  latter  named  is  that  of  old  Mother  Bash 
Devoux,  who  occupied  the  old  first  house  of  worship 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  89 

on  "  Buncombe  Hill,"  where  the  candidates  for  baptism 
were  prepared  as  long  as  she  lived.  She  was  a  pattern 
of  good  works  to  many  who  have  followed  her  example 
to  the  present  day  as  spiritual  mothers  of  the  church. 
Of  this  group  of  thorough  Baptist  women,  all  of  whom 
distinguished  themselves  in  some  way  in  the  building 
up  and  perfecting  of  the  work  of  the  church,  and  most 
of  whom  lived  to  remarkable  ages,  but  more  especially 
of  the  number,  was  Mother  Grace  Hague,  whose  long 
life  and  preservation,  mentally  and  physically,  is  worthy 
of  notice.  She  gave  many  of  the  incidents  of  the 
early  history  of  the  church,  corroborated  by  written 
history.  When  very  young  she  was  baptized  by  Mr. 
Bryan  in  his  later  days.  She  lived  until  the  summer 
of  1885,  mention  of  which  was  made  in  the  minutes 
of  the  Zion  Association,  by  resolution  that  year.  Sarah 
Nelson,  Diana  Wallace,  and  Sarah  Wallace,  each  in 
turn,  became  the  successors  of  Mother  Bash  in  offici- 
ating at  the  water  during  the  baptism  of  females,  and 
were  therefore  highly  respected  as  pious  mothers  of  the 
church  by  all,  male  and  female  members. 


90       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  church  was  represented  by  Rev.  Evans  Grate 
and  Adam  Sheftall  in  1822,  but  the  membership  was 
not  given ;  and  in  1823  by  Adam  Sheftall  and  Jack 
Simpson,  with  a  membership  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-eight.  It  was  at  this  meeting  of  the  Association 
that  the  designation  of  African  Churches  was  given  to 
these  two  bodies  with  exclusively  colored  pastors  and 
membership.  It  seems  that  there  were  some  additions 
of  churches  organized  by  white  ministers  with  a  mixed 
membership,  as,  for  instance,  the  White  BluiF  and  Aber- 
corn,  organized  by  Rev.  James  Sweat  and  Rev.  Henry 
Cook.  But  this  title  or  designation  was  not  given  to 
either,  though  their  membership  was  largely  of  colored 
persons,  with  very  few  whites.  But  upon  the  minutes 
these  two  Savannah  churches  were  ever  after  styled  the 
First  African  and  the  Second  African,  and  although 
the  Ogeechee  Church,  as  first  organized,  was  exclusively 
colored  in  membership  and  its  pastor,  it  was  now  rep- 
resented in  the  Association  by  white  brethren  and 
served  by  white  missionaries.  This  was,  no  doubt, 
for  prudential  reasons,  as  it  was  against  the  policy 
of  the  State  Legislature  for  large  bodies  of  slaves  to 
assemble  unless  presided  over  by  some  white  person  as 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  Q\ 

their  religious  teacher.  In  1824  the  First  African  was 
represented  by  A.  Sheftall  and  A.  Johnson,  the  mem- 
bership being  1912;  and  in  1825,  for  the  first  time, 
Rev.  Andrew  Marshall  appeared,  representing  the 
church  in  the  Association,  with  Deacons  A.  Sheftall, 
A.  Johnson,  and  J.  Simpson  as  colleagues,  with  a 
membership  of  1886,  showing  a  decrease  of  26;  but 
in  1826  there  were  the  same  representatives,  Marshall, 
Sheftall,  Johnson,  and  Simpson,  with  a  membership  of 
2141,  showing  a  gain  of  255  for  this  year.  It  was 
in  this  year,  also,  that  the  first  Sabbath-school  for 
colored  children  was  instituted  in  this  city  and  at  this 
church.  Messrs.  George  W.  Coe,  John  Lewis,  James 
Barr,  and  others,  teachers  of  the  Independent  Presby- 
terian Sabbath-school,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr. 
Lowel  Mason,  established  a  branch  here  for  colored 
children.  Mr.  Coe  was  the  superintendent  of  this 
branch  until  his  death,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
William  Bee.  At  first  the  school  was  conducted  under 
the  class  system,  but  afterwards  the  superintendent 
conducted  all  the  exercises,  and  gave  the  instruction 
from  the  desk.  The  average  attendance  of  the  school 
was  about  two  hundred.  Mr.  Coe's  plan  was  to  make 
the  scholars  bring  to  the  school  certificates  of  good  be- 
havior from  their  owners  during  the  week,  and  during 
the  exercises  he  made  all  who  had  certificates  of  good 
behavior  stand  up  and  show  themselves  to  the  school ; 


92       THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

afterwards  he  gave  them  tickets  with  a  Scripture  text; 
then  he  made  all  those  who  were  reported  bad  at  home 
stand  up  and  show  themselves  to  the  school,  to  receive, 
probably,  a  public  reprimand.  This  mission  school  in 
the  church  continued  successfidly  down  to  December 
27,  1835,  since  which  time  it  has  been  kept  up  by  the 
church.*  In  1827,  Marshall,  Johnson,  and  Simpson 
were  the  rei)resentatives;  membership,  2275;  gain, 
134.      In  1828  the  delegation  was  A.  Marshall,  Jo- 

'seph  Clay,  and Ross;  membership,  2311,  a  gain 

of  36  ;  and  in  1829,  with  the  same  delegation,  Marshall, 
Clay,  and  Ross;  membership,  2357,  a  gain  of  46. 
The  colored  delegates  were  increased  in  the  Associa- 
tion this  year  by  the  addition  of  Rev.  Evans  Grate, 
representing  the  White  Bluff,  and  Rev.  B,  Renier, 
the  Abercorn,  with  Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham,  Deacons 
Anderson  and  Devoux,  of  the  Second  African,  making 
a  respectable  number  of  our  race  holding  up  the  banner 
of  the  cross  among  the  more  favored  white  brethren, 
representing  a  colored  constituency  at  this  meeting  of 
4264  members,  which  in  detail  was  :  First  African, 
2357;  Second  African,  1040;  Ogeechee,  300;  White 
Bluff,  407  ;  Abercorn,  160.  In  1830  the  delegation 
of   this   church  was   Marshall,    Clay,   and   Simpson ; 

*  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  John  Stoddard,  of  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church,  for  the  copy  of  these  records  from  the  files 
of  the  church  in  this  city. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  93 

membership,  2418,  a  gain  of  Gl  for  tlie  year;  and  in 
1831,  Marshall,  Johnson,  Simpson,  and  S.  Whitfield  (a 
grandson  of  Father  Andrew  Bryan) ;  the  membership 
this  year,  2795,  a  gain  of  377,  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  church  had  experienced  a  great  revival  this  year, 
and  had  the  largest  increase  of  any  previous  year; 
and  there  seems  to  have  been  an  increase  in  all  the 
colored  churches  of  the  city  and  county  this  year  from 
their  report  by  the  Association  ;  but  the  great  ingather- 
ing took  place  in  this  church.  Yet  this  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  and  increase  was  followed  by  the  severest 
trial  but  one  in  her  whole  history. 

Dr.  Alexander  Campbell  (then  called  the  great  new- 
light  preacher)  visited  Savannah,  and  was  permitted 
by  the  pftstor,  Rev.  A.  Marshall,  to  preach  in  the 
church  his  new  doctrine.  The  orthodox  Baptists  of 
the  city  and  vicinity,  with  the  leading  officers  of  this 
church  and  a  large  part  of  the  members,  disapproved 
of  the  pastor's  course,  and  became  highly  displeased 
with  him.  The  pastor  also,  in  some  remarks  from  his 
pulpit,  seemed  to  give  the  impression  that  he  was 
favorably  inclined  towards  Dr.  Campbell's  doctrine. 
The  effect  was  terrible.  Disputes  arose  in  the  church 
to  such  an  extent  that  even  in  the  meetings  for 
public  worship,  as  well  as  in  those  for  business,  the 
disorder  was  so  great  that  the  city  officers  were  called 
in  to  disperse  them,  and  some  of  the  most  turbulent 
5* 


91        THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

were  caught  and  severely  whipped  on  one  Sunday 
evening  by  the  city  marshal.  The  church  became 
hopelessly  divided,  the  subject  becoming  the  town's 
topic,  and  this  glorious  heritage  of  Christ,  the  hope 
and  light  of  the  negro  race  in  our  city  and  all  the 
neighboring  plantations,  became  a  reproach. 

Rev.  A.  Marshall  withdrew  from  the  building  with 
one  portion  of  the  church,  the  other  remaining,  under 
the  leadership  of  Deacon  Adam  Johnson,  the  most  able 
and  influential  of  the  deacons.  The  great  power  of 
his  preaching  and  the  general  popularity  of  Mr.  Mar- 
shall drew  a  large  majority  of  the  members  after  him, 
and  for  a  long  time  the  disputes  waged  between  the 
majority  and  the  minority  parties  without  their  seem- 
ing to  know  what  was  the  issue.  It  was 'principally 
the  Marshall  and  Johnson  parties,  the  latter  accusing 
the  pastor  of  preaching  false  doctrine,  and  of  being  the 
common  talk  among  the  people  as  well  as  the  respec- 
tive members.  The  church  was  not  represented  in  the 
Association,  and  (Jid  not  make  any  report  for  the  year 
1832;  but  that  body,  being  in  session  at  Walthourville, 
Liberty  County,  considered  the  state  of  the  church  and 
appointed  a  committee  of  investigation,  who  made  re- 
port on  the  10th  of  November,  1832,  as  follows  :* 

*  Extract  from  the  minutes  of  Sunbury  Association,  1832,  p.  6, 
paragraphs  24-27,  kindly  furnished  by  Rev.  Lewis  C.  Tebeau, 
now  secretary  New  Sunbury  Association. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  95 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  consid- 
eration of  the  difficulty  existing  in  the  First  African 
Church,  Savannah,  make  their  report. 

"  Your  committee,  after  a  serious  consideration  of  the 
painful  and  difficult  task  assigned  them,  would  present 
to  your  body  the  following  resolutions,  as  the  result  of 
their  consideration  : 

^'Bcsolved,  That  we  approve  highly  of  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  council  of  ministers  that  was  called, 
viz.,  That  A.  Marshall  be  silenced  ;  and  we  concur  in 
the  opinion  that  he  be  silenced  indefinitely. 

"Resolved,  That  the  First  African  Church,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  this  Association,  on  account  of  its  corrupt  state, 
be  considered  as  dissolved  ;  and  that  measures  be 
adopted  to  constitute  a  new  church  as  a  branch  of  the 
white  Baptist  church. 

"Resolved,  That  we  advise  our  colored  brethren  in 
the  country,  now  members  of  the  African  churches  in 
Savannah,  to  take  letters  of  dismission,  and  either  unite 
themselves  with  neighboring  churches  of  our  faith  and 
order  ar  be  constituted  into  separate  churches. 

"  The  committee  recommend  the  jDublic  expression  of 
this  body,  extending  their  entire  approbation  of  the 
Christian  deportment  of  the  Second  African  Church. 

^^Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  resolutions  be 
transmitted  to  the  mayor  of  the  city  of  Savannah. 

■"Signed, 

"  Samuel  S,  Law, 

"  3Ioderator. 
"Oliver  Stevens, 

"ClerJ:. 


96        THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST   CHURCH 

"  A  true  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Sunbury 
Association,  convened  at  Walthourville,  Georgia,  No- 
vember 9,  10,  and  11,  1832. 

"Lewis  C.  Tebeau, 
"Clerk  of  Sunbury  Association." 

This  may  seem  a  very  summary  proceeding  to  some 
Baptists,  considering  that  an  Association  has  no  eccle- 
siastical powers  over  Baptist  churches ;  but  it  will 
appear  less  strange  when  we  remember  that  under  the 
then  existing  laws  of  the  State  of  Georgia  our  white 
brethren  were  held  somewhat  responsible  for  our  good 
conduct,  and  that  they  came  and  sat  in  the  conferences  or 
any  other  meetings  when  they  thought  it  necessary,  and 
the  courts  of  jurisdiction  would  not  give  our  colored 
ministers  a  license  to  preach  or  officiate  in  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church  unless  they  were  endorsed  by  two 
or  more  white  Baptist  ministers.  Thus  virtually  all 
the  colored  churches  were  wards.  It  is  also  true  that 
most  generally  these  actions  were  done  kindly  and 
with  a  desire  on  the  part  of  some  white  brethren  only 
to  guard  us  for  good  under  the  circumstances  ;  yet,  too, 
there  were  at  times  some  severe  exceptions. 

The  church  property  being  under  a  perpetual  trus- 
teeship, the  Association  no  doubt  then  looked  to  the 
continuation  of  an  orthodox  colored  church  upon  this 
spot,  in  its  recommendation  to  reorganize  the  same  as 
a   branch   of   the  white   Baptist  church,  and  that  it 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  97 

would  be  in  harmony  with  the  trust  and  yet  be  con- 
trolled under  some  white  minister  appointed  by  them, 
and  in  interviews  with  the  deacons  such  action  was 
proposed.  Yet  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  resolution 
ever  was  effectual  in  the  way  contemplated  by  that 
body. 

While  the  church  last  reported  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-five  members,  not  more  than  about 
two-fifths  were  residents  of  the  city,  the  other  three- 
fifths  being  scattered  upon  the  plantations  along  the  Sa- 
vannah River,  and  had  no  voice  in  the  disciplinary  part 
of  the  church ;  therefore  not  more  than  about  eleven 
hundred  were  engaged  in  this  dispute  or  division,  and 
a  majority  of  this  number  took  sides  according  to  their 
})reference  for  the  leading  parties  in  the  dispute  and  not 
upon  any  merits  of  the  questions  at  issue.  There  was 
a  very  distinct  and  grave  question  involved,  and  tliat 
question  was.  Did  Mr.  Marshall  say  from  his  pulpit 
that  he  favored  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  reform  preached 
by  Mr.  Campbell  to  his  people?  Deacons  Adam  John- 
son, Jack  Simpson,  and  a  large  body  of  the  members, 
and  some  of  the  whites  visiting  on  the  occasion,  held 
that  he  did,  judging  from  the  associational  report;  and 
we  learn  that  a  council  had  been  called  which  decided 
that  such  was  the  fact,  and  resolved  that  Mr.  Marshall 
be  not  allowed  to  preach,  as  they  considered  his  views 
of  Baptist  doctrine  as  erroneous  as  Mr.  Campbell's. 


98        THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

However,  while  this  adjudication  was  taking  place, 
whether  legal  or  not,  the  parties  to  the  issue  were  not 
idle.  The  minority,  under  Mr.  Johnson's  leadership, 
continued  to  meet  in  the  old  church  building,  and  held 
such  services  as  were  permitted  by  the  city  authorities. 
The  white  Baptist  church  had  this  year  (1832)  com- 
pleted and  moved  into  their  new  brick  church  edifice 
on  Chippewa  Square,  and  their  wooden  building  on 
Franklin  Square,  in  which  they  had  worshipped  since 
1800,  was  vacant.  Mr.  Marshall,  through  the  interces- 
sion of  some  very  influential  white  friends,  purchased 
this  building  from  the  white  church,  which  was  much 
more  commodious  than  the  old  house  built  by  Rev.  A. 
Bryan.  This  bold  effort  on  his  part  gave  him  a  great 
advantage  over  his  opponents,  and  drew  the  people  to 
him  in  means  and  numbers;  and  they  met  with  him 
and  prayed,  if  they  could  do  nothing  else;  but  he  was 
careful  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of  the  law  by  having 
some  friendly  white  person  always  present  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  meetings. 

In  this  division  the  strongest  portion  of  the  male 
members  sided  with  the  minority,  and  so  did  all  of  the 
ordained  deacons, — namely,  Johnson  Sheftall,  Simpson 
Wall,  and  Ross;  and  among  the  males  of  note,  Wil- 
liam Campbell,  Isaac  Beard,  Jack  Cohen,  Sampson 
Whitfield,  Joseph  Clay,  Josiah  Lloyd,  Benjamin  Ver- 
deree,  Adam  Anderson,  William  Monger,  and  others ; 


IN   NORTH   AMERICA.  99 

and  with  Mr.  Marshall,  acting  deacons  Benjamin 
King,  Patrick  Williams,  with  Brethren  Jack  Burke, 
Emanuel  Wand,  Robert  McNish,  Bing  Frazer,  James 
Mills,  Lenan  Brown,  and  others.  Of  course,  with 
few  exceptions,  the  wives  and  children  went  with  their 
husbands  and  fothers;  but  the  generality  of  the  females, 
who  have  ever  been  in  the  majority,  went  with  Rev. 
Mr.  Marshall.  On  both  sides  the  feeling  ran  very 
high,  and  much  of  crimination  and  recrimination  ex- 
isted for  some  time  before  it  subsided.  Several  of 
the  male  members  vacillated  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  as  circumstances  seemed  to  favor,  and  a  few 
who  could  even  left  the  country  and  went  to  Liberia, 
Africa;  others  took  letters  and  joined  the  Second 
African  Church,  not  desiring  to  have  any  part  in  the 
dispute.  Such  was  the  status  of  both  sides  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1833. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  1832  the  church 
was  not  represented  in  the  Sunbury  Association,  though 
it  had  been  a  member  from  the  organization  of  that 
body  and  at  the  time  the  resolutions  relative  to  the 
church  and  pastor  were  adopted ;  but  at  the  session 
of  1833  she  sent  as  delegates  to  represent  her  Rev. 
Thomas  Anderson,  who  had  been  called  as  the  pastor 
this  year,  with  Deacons  A.  Johnson  and  J.  Simpson. 
The  membership,  as  then  reported,  was  398  ;  of  course, 
this  representation  could  be  but  circumstantial,  for  in 


100      THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

1831  her  membership  was  2795.  Where  had  they 
gone  ?  was  certainly  a  question ;  and  to  account  for 
them  we  must  consider  the  fact  that  but  about  two- 
fifths  of  the  church's  membership  resided  in  the  city, 
— which  would  be  in  round  numbers  about  700, — a 
majority  of  whom,  as  has  been  said,  followed  Rev. 
Mr.  Marshall ;  and  if  the  number  here  reported  by 
the  church  (398)  is  near  correct,  the  other  702  were 
with  him,  and  there  must  have  been  about  1700  bap- 
tized members  of  the  church  upon  the  plantations  who 
were  now  "  scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  having  no  shep- 
herd."* 

When  we  consider  the  persecutions  of  the  church  in 
its  earliest  days,  the  history  of  which  has  come  down 
to  the  members  of  this  period  from  their  parents, — 
some  of  those  who  had  suffered  with  Mr.  Bryan  being 
yet  alive, — it  is  easy  to  see  that  these  people,  unable 
to  understand  the  true  merits  of  the  questions  that  dis- 
tracted and  separated  the  church,  should  believe  that  Mr. 
Marshall  was  being  persecuted,  like  his  uncle  had  been, 
simply  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  in  order  to  prevent 
him  from  enlightening  them  as  poor,  persecuted  slaves. 
We  do  not  wonder,  then,  that  the  majority  were  with 
him,  right  or  wrong,  in  this  difficulty :  their  condition 
and  circumstances  would  justify  them  in  this  belief. 

*  Matthew  ix.  3(1. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.    .  IQl 

On  the  other  hand,  "Was  tlieir  pastor  wrong?  Did 
lie  desire  to  do  wrong,  or  lead  them  tiie  wrong  way, 
in  his  preaching  to  tliem  ?  He  told  them  plainly  of 
Jesus  and  his  love;  of  his  dying  for  their  sins  upon 
the  cross ;  of  his  rising  from  the  dead  for  their  justi- 
fication, if  their  faith  believed  this;  and  of  his  ascen- 
sion to  glory,  where  he  went  to  prepare  them  a  home  ; 
their  mansion  in  heaven  was  sure  if  they  lived  a  life 
of  faith  and  practised  good  works.  They  could  fully 
understand  him  in  this,  and  it  sufficed  a  large  majority 
of  them,  the  greater  portion  of  whom  he  had  baptized 
into  the  faith  of  the  Church.  Yet  there  was  a  think- 
ing, discriminating  number  of  members  in  the  church 
even  then  who  were  able  to  judge  of  sound  doctrine, 
and  whether  or  not  their  minister  was  "holding  fast  the 
faithful  word  as  he  hath  been  taught,  that  he  may  be 
able  by  sound  doctrine  both  to  exhort  and  to  convince 
the  gainsayers,"  and  they  strongly  differed  with  Mr. 
Marshall,  though  a  minority;  and  it  was  this  body  of 
the  church's  members  who  sent  Rev.  Thomas  Ander- 
son, A.  Johnson,  and  Jack  Simpson  to  represent  them 
in  the  fifteenth  session  of  the  Sunbury  Baptist  Asso- 
ciation. They  were  so  received  and  enrolled  as  the 
Third  African  Church,  according  to  the  manner  of  the 
white  brethren,  entitling  those  churches  wholly  com- 
posed of  colored  officers  and  members. 

A  question  that  arises  just  here  is.  Why  did  the  As- 


102     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

sociation  not  receive  these  delegates  as  the  representa- 
tives of  the  First  African  Church,  and  so  enroll  them 
as  formerly?  The  proposition  here  propounded  is 
certainly  necessary  of  solution  to  maintain  the  original 
status  of  the  church,  we  think  ;  and  does  the  fact  that 
the  Association  changed  the  number  or  title  of  recog- 
nition of  the  church  at  this  time  alter  its  original 
identity?  In  logic,  opposition  in  propositions  implies 
a  disagreement  in  respect  of  quality,  and  it  does  appear 
to  be  a  matter  that  the  Association  should  have  con- 
sidered and  decided  upon  as  an  advisory  body  under 
the  Baptist  polity ;  but  it  seems  that  they  did  not,  al- 
though the  white  brethren  of  Savannah  held  several 
meetings  with  the  leaders  of  the  division.  Such  breth- 
ren as  Rev,  H.  O.  Wyer,  Deacons  Holmes  Tupper, 
Abram  Harmon,  W.  W.  Wash,  H.  H.  Furman,  and 
others,  men  eminent  for  their  piety  and  sound  judg- 
ment and  orthodoxy  in  the  Baptist  faith,  counselled 
with  and  examined  into  the  unhappy  difficulty  ;  and  it 
was  certainly  their  advice  and  direction  that  brought 
on  the  settlement  in  the  form  we  have  it  upon  their 
associational  records,  which  we  now  quote  :* 

(Par.  25.)  "Application  was  made  by  the  Third 
African  Church  to  become  a  member  of  this  Associa- 
tion.    Granted  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

*  Minutes  of  tlie  Sunbury  Association,  1833,  p.  0,  paragraphs 
25-29. 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  103 

(Par.  26.)  "Resolved,  That  this  Association  approves 
of  the  conduct  of  S.  Whitfield,  J.  Clay,  and  others, 
who  separated  from  the  First  African  Church,  and  rec- 
ommends them  to  full  fellowship  with  all  the  churches. 

(Par.  27.)  "Resolved,  That  this  Association  ex- 
presses its  disapprobation  of  the  conduct  of  such  mem- 
ber or  members  as  attempted  to  invalidate  one  or  more 
of  its  resolutions. 

(Par.  28.)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  considered  re- 
spectful and  safe  for  any  church,  differing  as  to  the 
expediency  or  propriety  of  any  resolutions  of  this 
Association,  that  they  submit  their  views  at  the  next 
annual  meeting,  and  defer  until  such  time  operations 
on  the  subject. 

(Par.  29.)  "Resolved,  That  this  Association,  having 
undoubted  testimony  of  Andrew  Marshall  holding  the 
sentiments  avowed  by  Alexander  Campbell,  now  de- 
clares him  and  all  his  followers  to  have  thrown  them- 
selves out  of  the  fellowship  of  the  churches  of  this 
Association,  and  it  recommends  all  of  its  faith  and 
order  to  separate  from  them,  according  to  the  advice 
of  the  Savannah  Baptist  Church." 

It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  at  the  previous 
session,  when  fellowship  with  the  First  African  Church 
was  declared  dissolved  by  the  Association,  and  they 
expressed  by  resolution  their  entire  approbation  of  the 
Christian  deportment  of  the  Second  African  Church, 


104     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

they  yet  by  another  resolution  recommended  to  that 
church  the  expediency  of  their  connecting  themselves 
as  a  branch  of  the  white  Baptist  church  in  Savan- 
nah, and  that  we  adopt  measures  to  constitute  all  the 
African  churches  branches  of  white  Baptist  churches. 
A  foot-note  says  a  committee  was  appointed  to  trans- 
mit this  resolution  to  the  State  Legislature  and  Mayor 
of  Savannah,  with  explanatory  remarks. 

In  the  session  of  1834  the  only  allusion  made  to 
this  difficulty  is  a  paragraph  of  the  digest  of  letters, 
saying,  "  The  Third  African  Church  seems  engaged  in 
its  duties  with  diligence  and  Christian  zeal;"  but  at  the 
next  session,  1835,  we  find  on  page  1,  paragraph  16: 
"  Application  was  made  by  the  First  African  Church 
in  Savannah  for  membership;  but  difficulties  beyond 
the  control  of  the  Association  being  presented,  with 
the  consent  of  the  representatives  of  said  church,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  J.  S.  Law,  A. 
Harmon,  D.  Harmon,  T.  Mell,  W.  W.  Wash,  and 
H.  Furman,  who  should  request  the  assistance  of  Rev. 
C.  B.  Jones,  and  who  should  act  for  the  Association 
in  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulties;"  and  at  the 
session  of  1835,  on  page  9,  we  find  only  a  synop- 
sis of  the  report  of  the  committee,  as  follows :  "  The 
committee  appointed  by  the  preceding  Association  to 
settle  diffisrences  existing  between  the  African  churches 
in  Savannah,  report  the  following   as  the  conditioBS 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  105 

upon  which  an  amicable  adjustment  might  be  effected : 
That  the  First  African  Church  act  aside  from  her 
pastor,  thereby  dissolving  her  illegal  and  disorderly 
connection  with  him ;  that  she  renounce  the  unscriptu- 
ral  doctrines  taught  by  Andrew  Marshall ;  that  she 
satisfy  the  Second  African  Church  in  relation  to  her 
excommunicated  members ;  that  she  return  to  the 
Association  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  churches 
which  compose  that  body." 

In  the  minutes  of  1836  (page  4,  par.  12)  we  find, 
"  The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  session  of  this 
Association  for  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulties  in  the 
First  African  Church  in  Savannah,  being  called  upon, 
presented  their  report,  which,  being  read,  was  accepted." 
Also  (par.  13),  "A  committee  from  the  First  African 
Church  presented  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Association 
by  one  of  its  trustees,  and  also  a  petition  for  restoration 
to  the  fellowship  of  this  body,  which,  after  being  ex- 
amined by  a  committee,  were  returned  with  a  recom- 
mendation that  they  should  be  read."  (Par.  14.) 
"  The  letter  and  petition  being  read,  on  motion,  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Brethren  J.  S.  Law,  J. 
McDonald,  and  A.  Harmon,  was  appointed,  to  report 
upon  the  petition." 

(Page  5,  par.  20.)  "  The  committee  appointed  to 
examine  the  letter  from  the  First  African  Churcii 
thus   reports :    that   they  truly  admire    the   spirit   in 


106     THE   FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

which  the  petition  of  that  church  to  your  body  was 
dictated,  and  would  aflFectionately  advise  them  to 
accede  to  the  terms  of  reconciliation  stated  in  the 
report  of  your  late  committee,  as  the  only  terms 
upon  which  reconciliation  can  be  made  in  the  present 
state  of  things.  We  Avould  also  recommend  that  the 
clerk  furnish  the  delegates  of  said  church  with  a 
copy  of  this  report." 

At  the  session  of  1837  (page  6,  par.  13),  "A  letter 
was  presented  from  the  First  African  Church,  re- 
questing to  be  readmitted  a  member,  stating  that  the 
difficulties  heretofore  existing  were  removed."  The 
proceedings  of  the  committee  of  the  Savannah  church 
(white),  together  with  its  report  to  the  church,  as 
follows,  were  read  :  "  Your  committee,  after  a  laborious 
service,  are  now  able  to  report  that  they  have  reason 
to  believe  the  long-existing  difficulties  between  the 
several  African  churches  are  brought  to  a  close; 
each  has  expressed  itself  satisfied,  and  all  has  been 
done  by  the  First  African  Church  in  accordance 
with  the  resolutions  and  recommendations  of  the 
Association ;  and  Andrew  Marshall,  having  made  full 
renunciation  of  holding  the  peculiar  sentiments  of 
Alexander  Campbell,  with  which  he  has  been  charged, 
there  seems  to  be  no  difficulty  in  his  holding  full 
fellowship  in.  the  church  to  which  he  belongs.  It 
was   then   resolved    that    the   First   African    Church 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  107 

be  readmitted  a  member  of  this  body."  Thus  we 
have  here  all  the  public  correspoudence  and  actions 
of  the  Association  relating  to  the  difficulty,  fully,  as 
they  appear  in  its  minutes,  and  must  leave  for 
another  chapter  its  analysis. 


108     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


CHAPTER   VII. 

With  the  goiug  out  of  Mr.  Marshall  and  his  fol- 
lowers from  the  Sunbury  Association,  the  record  of 
which  we  gave  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  their  re- 
turn to  that  body,  is  fully  given  also  his  going  out  from 
this  church  and  the  causes,  notwithstanding  the  church 
have  no  special  records  to  show  of  her  own  keeping; 
but  there  is  only  this  diiFerence  in  his  leaving  the 
church:  he  never  did  return  to  it;  and  it  must  be 
recollected  also  that  while  he  had  been  its  pastor  for 
about  sixteen  years,  he  never  was  a  member  of  the 
church  ;  his  membership  ever  remained  with  the 
Second  Colored  Church,  which  he  originally  joined 
and  where  he  was  baptized.  This  church,  therefore, 
could  not  discipline  him.  Seeing  by  these  records  of 
the  Sunbury  Association  that  the  First  African  Church 
went  away  from  and  was  declared  by  them  "  dissolved" 
on  account  of  its  corrupt  state,  and  also  that  it  is  "  re- 
admitted" a  member  of  the  body  about  five  years  after 
under  the  same  title,  the  question  naturally  presents 
itself.  Is  it  still  the  church  which,  under  God,  Mr. 
Bryan  planted  in  the  year  1788,  which  is  existing  still, 
and  which  has  never  been  rooted  up,  neither  have  the 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  109 

gates  of  hell  prevailed  against  it?  By  carefully  ana- 
lyzing the  preceding  chapter  we  gather  the  facts  which 
must  determine  the  question,  and  we  will  now  en- 
deavor to  set  them  in  their  order. 

Then,  1st.  By  the  blessing  of  God,  Rev.  Andrew 
Bryan  founded  this  the  first  negro  Baptist  church  in 
the  United  States  of  North  America,  in  the  city  of 
Savannah,  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  after  its  jour- 
neying in  a  wilderness  of  tribulation,  doubts,  and 
fears,  from  Buncombe  Hill  to  Brampton,  and  from 
there  back  to  the  city,  they  finally  rested  on  Lot  No.  7, 
Oglethorpe  Ward,  and  erected  a  house  for  God.  To 
secure  it,  he,  by  faith — no  doubt  looking  for  this  day — 
in  the  promises  of  God,  placed  it  in  trust  of  those 
whom  he  believed  would  keep  the  property  securely 
in  possession  of  the  worshippers  of  God  of  his  race 
until  God  should  deliver  them  from  their  moral 
and  physical  bondage.  Having  proved  himself  and 
followers  sound  in  the  faith  of  the  Baptists,  and  as 
such  associated  with  others  of  the  State  and  country, 
he  died,  leaving  the  church  in  a  comparatively  peaceful 
and  prosperous  condition,  with  the  hope  of  continuing 
so. 

2d.  Mr.  Marshall  became  his  successor,  finding  the 
church  still  progressing,  and  it  continued  so  until  he 
departed  from  its  faith  and  was  deposed.  He  had 
never    represented    the   church    in    the    Association, 


110     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

though  its  pastor  until  the  year  1825,  seven  years 
after  the  organization  of  that  body  at  Sunbury ;  but 
Johnson,  Simpson,  Lloyd,  Sheftall,  and  others  had, 
and  the  church  had  overcome  all  obstacles  to  her 
peaceful  worship  and  ordinances  by  her  good  conduct, 
with  no  serious  disturbance  until  Mr.  Alexander 
Campbell's  visit,  in  1832.  She  had  grown  strong 
through  the  grace  of  peace.  Then  all  these  troubles 
of  the  last  five  years  were  but  the  fruit  of  the  am- 
bition of  her  pastor ;  and  when  the  troubles  came,  it 
was  Mr.  Mar.<hall  and  his  followers  who  withdrew 
and  went  away  from  the  old  ground  and  buildings, 
surrendering  all  in  possession  of  the  trustees  to  those 
who  held  to  Mr.  Bryan's  faith  and  practice,  and  con- 
tended against  him  for  the  same, — and  these  were  to  a 
man  tliose  wiio  had  ever  represented  her  in  the  Asso- 
ciation, and  who  in  1833  received  the  commenda- 
tion of  their  brethren  in  that  body  for  having  done 
right;  not,  as  they  say,  in  "separating  from  the  First 
African  Church,"  but  rather  should  have  said  in  not 
going  out  from  the  faith  with  Mr.  Marshall  and  his 
followers,  when  they  left  them.  These  being  truly 
the  church,  because  they  had  the  faith  and  doctrine, 
were  recommended  to  full  fellowship  with  all  the 
churches;  but  why  give  them  a  new  number  of  re- 
cognition among  the  African  churches,  then?  This 
seems  inconsistent. 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  HI 

3(1.  Tliere  is  no  evidence  tliat  there  was  a  new  or- 
ganization of  the  church  wlien  Rev.  Thomas  An(ler-^ 
son,  Deacons  Adam  Johnson  and  Jack  Simpson  at- 
tended the  session  of  the  Association  as  representatives 
in  1833,  the  year  after  the  schism.  They  went  as  a 
part  of  the  same  body  of  which  they  had  ever  been 
consistent  members,  stating  their  position,  and  asking 
true  Baptist  recognition ;  but  they  allowed  their  des- 
ignation to  be  made  by  the  white  brethren,  who,  of 
course,  controlled  all  these  details,  and  who,  having 
already  declared  that  strongest  and  most  popular  of 
all  the  Baptist  churches  in  the  Association  corru])t  and 
demoralized,  and  having  by  resolutions  shown  their 
purpose  to  revolutionize  the  African  churches,  changed 
the  title  of  recognition  of  this  church.  It  is  plain 
that  the  stigma  upon  the  First  African  Church  and 
the  desire  to  control  the  religious  privileges  of  colored 
preachers  hereafter  advised  this  a])parent  new  organ- 
ization and  new  number,  for  it  was  still  called  African 
by  them  ;  but  in  fact  it  was  the  old  First  Colored 
Church  who  assisted  in  their  organization  as  an  Asso- 
ciation, and  whose  faith,  principles,  order,  and  citv 
location  had  never  changed  for  any  time  since  it  had 
been  founded  to  the  present  day. 

4th.  It  is  true  that  this  church  as  an  independent 
body,  as  every  Baptist  church  properly  is,  might  have 
demurred    or   protested    or   made   demands   for  what 


112     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

they  knew  were  their  rights  in  the  premises.  Among 
our  white  brethren  this  could  be  done  at  that  day;  but 
with  colored  delegates  it  was  very  different.  We  pre- 
sented our  letters  of  credence,  petition,  or  statistics, 
and  took  a  back  or  separate  seat  in  the  body.  We 
had  a  vote,  and  at  most  times  timidly  used  it,  but 
never  had  a  voice  in  the  body  unless  answering  some 
question  asked.  The  church  was  in  great  trouble  now, 
and  wanted  the  union  she  ever  held  with  her  white 
brethren  for  that  protection  from  the  laws  of  tlie  State 
which  menaced  her  religious  liberties  continually.  Her 
independence  was  nothing  without  union,  and  our 
colored  brethren,  no  matter  what  they  knew  of  their 
rights  as  Baptists,  would  think  it  prudent  for  their 
people's  benefit,  whom  they  represented,  not  to  oppose 
the  will  of  these  white  brethren  of  power  in  the  land. 
They  desired  to  have  another  colored  pastor,  and  unless 
recognized  by  the  Association  in  some  way,  they  could 
not  get  his  recommendation  to  the  courts  signed  or 
indorsed  by  these  white  ministers,  as  required  by  law, 
as  here  given. 

"  WHEREAS,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  assented 
to  by  the  Governor,  on  the  23d  day  of  December,  1833, 
it  is  enacted,  '  That  no  person  of  color,  whether  free  or 
slave,  shall  be  allowed  to  preach  to,  exhort,  or  join 
in  any  religious  exercise  with  any  persons  of  color, 
either  free  or  slave,  there  being  more  than  seven  per- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  113 

sons  of  color  present,  without  a  written  certificate  being 
first  obtained,  from  three  ordained  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel  of  their  own  order,  in  which  certificate  shall  be 
set  forth  the  good  moral  character  of  the  applicant,  his 
pious  deportment,  and  his  ability  to  teach  the  Gospel, 
having  a  due  respect  to  the  character  of  those  persons 
to  whom  he  is  to  be  licensed  to  preach.  The  said 
Ministers  to  be  members  of  the  Conference,  Presby- 
tery, Synod,  or  Association  to  which  the  Churches  be- 
long in  which  the  said  colored  preachers  may  be  li- 
censed to  preach ;  and  also  the  written  permission  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  the  county  :  and 
in  counties  in  which  the  county  town  is  incorporated, 
in  addition  thereto,  the  permission  of  the  Mayor  or 
Chief  OfiScer  or  Commissioners  of  such  corporation. 
Such  license  not  to  be  for  a  longer  term  than  six 
months,  and  to  be  revocable  at  any  time  by  the  persons 
granting  it.' — And  whereas,  the  following  certificate 
has  been  presented  to  us,  in  compliance  with  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  foregoing  recited  clause  of  the  fifth  sec- 
tion of  the  act  aforesaid,  viz. : 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  ordained  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  being  members  of  the  Sunbury  Baptist  Associ- 
ation, for  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  & 
fifty-five  do  hereby  certify  to  the  Justices  of  the  In- 
ferior Court  of  Chatham  county,  and  to  the  Mayor  of 
the  city  of  Savannah  that  Ulysses  Houston  is  of  good 
moral  and  pious  deportment,  and  that  he  possesses  the 
ability  to  teach  the  Gospel  to  the  persons  belonging  to 
the  third  African  Church  in  Savannah  a  constituent  of 
the  Sunbury  Baptist  Association,  of  which   he    is  a 


114     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

member,  and  therefore  pray  that  he  may  be  licensed 
accordingly. 

"  Ulysses  Houston 
"  Licensed  Preacher 

"  A.  Harmon 
"  F.  R.  Sweat 
"Thomas  Rambout 


J 


"  GEORGIA, 

"  COUNTY, 

"Now  be  it  known,  That  we,  the  Justicesof  the 
Inferior  Court  of  county,  do  hereby  li- 

cense the  said  to  teach  the  Gospel  to  the 

people  of  color  of  the  African  Church, 

in  for  the  term  of  six  months  from  the 

date  hereof,  the  Mayor  of  the  first  agree- 

ing thereto:   this  license  to   be  revoked  at  any  time, 
good  and  sufficient  cause  being  shewn  therefor. 
"  Witness  Our  hands,  at  this 

day  of  185 

"  Wm.  H.  Cuyler  J.  I.  C.  C.  C. 
"  JA^  E.  Godfrey  J.  I.  C.  C.  C. 
"  Mont.  Gumming  J.  I.  C.  C.  C. 

"  COUNTY,  \ 

"City  of  i 

"  LICENSE  is  hereby  granted  to  in 

terms  of  the  law  of  the  23d  day  of  December,  1 833, 
to  teaph  the  Gospel  to  the  people  of  color  belonging  to 
the  African  Church  in  for 

the  space  of  six  months,  unless  sooner  revoked. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  U5 

"  In  witness  -whereof,  I  have  hereunto  affixed  my 
hand,  in  the  City  of  tliis 

"  Ed  WD.  C.  Anderson 

"Ilmjor." 

If  some  of  these  brethren  of  the  Association  felt 
more  resjiect  for  the  independent  usages  of  Baptists 
than  was  accorded  the  colored  brethren,  the  fear  of 
the  slave  censorship  and  of  being  suspicioned  of 
having  a  secret  principle  of  abolitionism  would  keep 
them  from  expressing  their  true  Baptist  sentiment 
in  their  behalf.  Thus  the  representative  brethren 
of  this  church  could  but  passively  submit  to  what 
they  were  advised,  and  this  was  certainly  the  state  of 
the  case  at  that  time,  but  which  could  not  take  place 
in  this  day,  under  any  circumstances,  among  intelligent 
Baptist  brethren  ;  but  the  circumstances  then  governed 
the  case.  The  advice  of  a  v.diite  council  in  any  of 
our  colored  churches,  or  from  the  Association,  was  then 
equivalent  to  a  command. 

5th.  The  resolutions  as  passed  by  the  Association, 
and  referred  to  in  the  last  chapter,  of  minutes  of  1833 
(page  6,  pars.  27  and  28),  and  reiterated  in  1834,  give 
us  the  spirit  and  intent  of  a  majority  of  the  Associa- 
tion, at  least,  and  but  for  the  strong  Baptist  principle 
ever  held  by  this  old  church  in  all  her  previous  liis- 
tory,  which  must  have  strongly  appealed  to  their  sense 
of  justice  and  charity,  the  hopes  of  all   the  colored 


11(3     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

churches  were  gone;  but  our  brethren  no  doubt  pri- 
vately appealed  to  such  old  and  influential  brethren  as 
J.  S.  Law,  H.  O.  Wyer,  and  a  few  others  like  them, 
with  high  Baptist  principles  and  some  charity,  which 
saved  them,  and  modified  the  tone  of  their  resolution 
of  1834  (on  page  5,  par.  30).  They  say,  "This  As- 
sociation being  an  advisory  body,  and  having  no 
power  to  dictate  to  or  bind  any  church  or  churches 
of  which  it  is  composed,  Resolved,  That  it  be  respect- 
ful for  any  church  differing  as  to  the  expediency  or 
propriety  of  any  resolution  of  this  Association  to 
submit  their  views  in  their  annual  letter  or  instruct 
their  delegates  with  regard  to  the  ground  of  their 
objections." 

At  the  period  when  this  change  of  purpose  is  seen 
this  church  was  again  in  the  Association,  represented 
by  Anderson,  Johnson,  and  Simpson.  The  church  had 
again  procured  a  license  for  her  pastor,  E,ev.  Mr.  An- 
derson, to  preach  for  her,  by  her  acquiescence  in  the 
advice  given.  These  licenses  had  to  be  renewed  each 
year  as  evidence  of  good  behavior  on  the  part  of  pas- 
tor, preacher,  and  people,  and  so  this  favorable  change 
affected  all  the  colored  churches  who  had  negro  pastors. 
It  is  to  be  noticed,  too,  that  during  the  year  of  this 
modification.  Rev.  J.  S.  Law,  the  best  friend  the  colored 
churches  and  pastors  ever  had  in  this  Association,  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Savannah  Baptist  Church,  and  was 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  117 

thus  often  in  counsel  with  our  brethren,  and,  liaving 
an  opportunity  of  observing  the  true  state  and  needs 
of  our  churches,  could  do  much  to  aid  in  the  troubles 
and  soften  the  feelings  against  their  freedom.  All  are 
willing  to  bear  testimony  to  his  noble,  loving  heart  and 
sympathetic  feelings  towards  his  colored  brethren, 
as  he  often  expressed  it,  and  this  feeling  extended  even 
to  Mr.  Marshall,  though  he  was  under  interdiction  for 
heterodoxy  and  schism.  So  that,  in  1835,  Mr.  Mar- 
shall made  bold  to  send  a  delegation  with  a  letter  to 
the  Association,  asking  that  they  be  recognized  and  re- 
ceived ;  and  though  they  were  refused,  they  neverthe- 
less had  a  committee  appointed,  all  of  whom  resided 
in  Savannah,  with  Rev.  J.  S.  Law  as  chairman,  to 
endeavor  to  remove  the  difficulties  in  their  way. 

6th.  The  astute  mind  of  Dr.  Marshall  was  not  idle. 
Among  his  friends  were  some  of  the  most  wealthy,  wise, 
and  influential  citizens,  some  of  whom  were  merchants 
who  patronized  him  in  business,  he  having  bought 
the  property  for  his  people  through  their  aid.  He 
held  it  under  a  new  trusteeship;  two  of  these  trustees 
(Messrs.  John  P.  Williamson  and  William  IT.  Stiles) 
greatly  aided  and  protected  him  at  this  time,  and  their 
influence  and  power  in  the  community  were  excelled  by 
none  at  that  day.  His  religious  independence,  which 
he  exhibited  in  bringing  about  these  very  troubles, 
gave  him  some  popularity  among  other  denominations 


118     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

in  the  city.  He  was  not  a  man  to  remain  passive 
under  his  interdiction,  and  thus  we  see  him  at  the 
Association  in  1836,  not  in  person,  but  by  a  letter 
from  one  of  his  trustees,  that  commanded  the  admira- 
tion of  the  committee  who  reported  upon  the  contents 
of  that  letter  and  the  petition  accompanying  it,  and 
which  also  drew  from  them  affectionate  advice  (page  5, 
par.  20);  and  while  the  letter  did  not  alter  his  con- 
dition at  that  session,  it  nevertheless  had  great  influ- 
ence in  bringing  about  a  settlement  later;  and  while 
this  grand  but  mistaken  old  man  and  minister  was 
struggling  to  extricate  himself  from  the  dilemma  in 
which  he  had  placed  himself  and  people,  panting  to  use 
that  great  power  he  felt  moving  within  his  heart,  and, 
like  a  caged  eagle,  beating  itself  against  the  bars  of  the 
cage  that  confined  it,  so  he,  looking  from  the  bars 
of  the  interdiction  which  his  own  Baptist  brethren  had 
placed  around  him  because  he  essayed  to  deviate  from 
sound  doctrine,  and  seeing  other  colored  ministers  of 
less  ability  and  influence  in  possession  of  those  min- 
isterial privileges  he  could  not  use,  he  then  yielded  to 
the  inevitable,  and  sought  reconciliation  with  this 
church  and  his  late  officers. 

The  committee  of  the  Association's  appointment — 
namely,  Messrs.  J.  S.  Law,  J.  McDonald,  and  Abram 
Harmon,  with  Rev.  F.  R.  Sweat,  Deacons  Adam 
Johnson,  Jack   Simpson,  and  Adam  Sheftall,  of  this 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  119 

cluircl),  Dr.  INIarshall,  JJciijamin  King,  Robert  Mc- 
Nish,  and  Samuel  Cope,  from  the  second  party — met 
in  the  Savannah  Baptist  Cluirch.  There  were  a  few 
other  brethren  present,  yet  tliese  were  principals  in  the 
council.  After  the  usual  preliminaries,  this  church, 
through  Deacon  A.  Johnson,  reiterated  the  charge 
against  Mr.  Marshall,  of  proclaiming  from  his  pulpit 
the  erroneous  doctrines  of  Mr.  Campbell,  thereby  cre- 
ating a  schism  in  the  church  and  all  the  attending  evils 
arising  in  the  church  and  among  the  people  since;  that 
Mr.  Marshall  had  denied  that  he  had  so  preached  from 
the  pulpit,  and  that  from  said  denial  a  question  of 
veracity  existed,  which,  as  the  representatives  of  this 
church,  he  and  his  brethren  thought  should  be  settled  ; 
that  they  had  no  malicious  feeling  against  him,  neither 
did  they  desire  to  hinder  the  good  among  his  people 
that  he  was  so  capable  of  doing;  that  they  appeared 
there  simply  in  the  defence  of  truth,  and  all  they 
asked,  on  their  part,  was  that  ISIr.  Marshall  would 
make  confession  that  they  had  not  misrepresented  or 
wronged  him.  The  clear,  j)rofound,  and  dignified 
manner  in  which  Mr.  Johnson  delivered  his  charge 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  whole  council,  and 
was  spoken  of  by  the  fathers  many  years  after  this 
event. 

Mr.  ]\rarshall,  being  called  upon  by  the  council  to 
answer,  rose  with  grave  submission  and,  with  his  native 


120     'I'HE   FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

eloquence,  confessed.  He  said  that  what  Brother  Adam 
and  the  other  brethren  had  said  aljout  this  matter  was 
true,  only  with  this  difference, — that  lie  did  not  say 
from  his  pulpit  that  he  agreed  with  Mr.  Alexander 
Campbell's  doctrine,  but  that  being  favorably  im- 
pressed from  hearing  him  expound  them,  when  he  had 
examined  the  doctrines  for  himself,  if  he  found  them 
true  according  to  Mr.  Campbell's  views  of  them,  then 
he  should  join  him;  but  upon  a  more  thorough  ex- 
amination of  the  Scriptures,  he  saw  no  reason  to 
change  his  faith  in  the  doctrines  as  now  held  by  his 
Baptist  brethren.  With  this  confession  Mr.  Johnson 
rose  and  stated  that  himself  and  brethren  present,  to 
whom  the  church  had  intrusted  the  settlement  of  this 
long-pending  difficulty,  were  now  satisfied,  and  had 
only  desired  the  peace  of  the  churches  and  the  progress 
of  the  Lord's  Zion,  and  that  they  might  prove  that  the 
Church  of  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth. 
These  two  brethren,  Marsiiall  and  Johnson,  by  far  the 
ablest  colored  Baptists  of  their  day,  and  then  standing 
as  the  leaders  at  the  head  of  separate  parts  of  the  First 
Colored  Ba])tist  Church,  then  approached  each  other 
and  extended  the  hand  of  fellowship  and  peace;  and 
the  matter,  so  far  as  this  church  was  concerned,  has  so 
remained  settled;  audit  was  upon  this  basis  that,  at 
the  session  of  1837,  the  committee  reported  to  the 
Association,  "  That   they   have   reason  to  believe  the 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  121 

long-existing  difficulties  between  the  several  African 
churches  are  brought  to  a  close.  .  .  .  Andrew  Mar- 
shall having  made  full  renunciation  of  holding  the 
peculiar  sentiments  of  Alexander  Campbell  with  which 
he  has  been  charged,  there  seems  to  be  no  difficulty  iu 
his  holding  full  fellowship  in  the  church  to  lohich  he 
belongs." 

It  will  not  foil  of  notice,  the  peculiar  wording  of 
this  report  and  its  vagueness.  Mr.  Marshall  and  one 
of  his  deacons  presented  a  letter  asking  to  be  re- 
admitted as  members,  and  stating  that  the  difficulties 
heretofore  existing  were  removed.  The  committee  of 
the  Savannah  white  church  said  :  "After  laborious  ser- 
vice we  are  now  able  to  report;"  but  with  all  that  their 
labor  has  removed  there  remain  some  important  ques- 
tions in  this  difficulty  not  settled,  and  which  ought  to 
have  been  at  the  time, — abstruse  questions,  it  must  be 
admitted,  but  yet  susceptible  of  a  solution  by  earnest 
Christian  brethren,  zealous  for  truth  and  the  glory  of 
God.  Which  is  the  original  body  or  church?  The 
majority,  who  withdrew  and  set  up  in  another  place, 
upon  new  doctrines,  or  the  minority,  who  remained  and 
held  the  faith  of  the  church?  The  divergence  has 
been  clearly  shown  from  the  testimony  and  reports ; 
yet  they  were  left  untouched  so  far  as  we  know  or  from 
anything  we  have  seen  in  the  records  of  this  difficulty 
and  its  settlement.     It  will  not  suffice  here  only  to  see 


122     1HE  FIRST   COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

that  a  majority  went  away.  In  our  Baptist  polity  the 
majority  rules;  but  if  they  would  rule,  they  must  stay. 
Can  they  run  away  and  rule  ?  If  in  the  right  they 
can  well  afford  to  stay.  Majorities  are  not  always 
God's  power,  or  carry  out  the  divine  purpose.  Ten 
out  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  seceded,  but  the 
sceptre  still  remained  with  Judah  until  Shiloh  came; 
and  unto  him  is  the  gathering  of  the  people,  and  in 
the  history  of  this  church  we  shall  perhaps  see  a 
parallel. 

7th.  The  right  to  the  use  of  the  property  held  in 
trust  for  this  church  since  the  third  day  of  July,  1797, 
as  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter,  had  some  bearing 
upon  this  question  of  the  original  church.  By  right 
of  succession  under  the  original  conveyance  of  Father 
Bryan,  in  1824,  Moses  Cleland,  Josiah  Penfield,  and 
Edward  Coppee  became  co-trustees  with  the  one  sur- 
vivor of  the  original  number,  William  Matthews,  and 
so  held  the  trust  through  all  the  period  of  these  diffi- 
culties. They  seem  never  to  have  been  called  in  ques- 
tion during  that  time,  except,  it  may  be,  by  individuals 
in  a  private  way;  but  after  the  settlement,  Mr.  Mar- 
shall laid  claim  to  the  property  as  heir  and  successor  of 
his  uncle,  Andrew  Bryan,  and  employed  able  counsel ; 
but  he  failed  to  recover  on  his  own  account  or  that  of 
his  church.  The  trustees  decided  that  the  property 
was  held  for  this  church,  as  it  had  ever  been  in  posses- 


7;V  NORTH   AMERICA.  123 

siou  and  was  peaceably  enjoying  its  use  at  tlie  time; 
and  it  has  so  continued  to  the  present  day,  as  will 
appear  in  a  new  charter  received  from  the  State  at  a 
later  j)eriod.  From  these  several  points  of  fact  must 
the  impartial  judgment  of  our  brethren  of  the  present 
day,  and  posterity  hereafter,  decide  for  themselves  the 
question,  and  when  they  have  so  done  the  verdict  is 
of  small  import,  save  for  the  truth  of  history. 

Rev.  Thomas  Anderson  served  the  church  as  pastor 
but  two  years,  and  in  1835  the  church  called  Rev. 
Stephen  McQueen,  and  was  represented  iu  the  Associ- 
ation by  himself  and  Brother  Sampson  Whitfield,  who 
reported  baptized,  10;  received  by  letter,  8;  and  the 
total  membership,  224,  a  gain  for  the  year  of  28.  In 
1806,  Rev.  S.  McQueen,  S.  Whitfield,  and  John  Har- 
ris ;  baptized,  10  ;  by  letter,  16  ;  membership,  183.  In 
1837,  Rev.  S.  McQueen;  baptized,  6;  membership,  189. 
In  1838  represented  by  Rev.  S.  ISIcQueen,  Deacons 
Lloyd  and  Sheftall ;  membership,  223.  In  1839,  Rev. 
S.  McQueen,  July  Ward  ;  membership,  240.  In  1840, 
Rev.  S.  McQueen  and  A.  Sheftall ;  membership,  234. 

In  1841  the  church  was  again  without  a  regular 
pastor,  but  was  represented  in  the  Association  by 
Deacons  A.  Johnson,  Charles  Newell,  and  July  Ward. 
Rev.  John  Devoux,  a  former  deacon  of  the  Second 
African  Church,  was  called  to  ordination  by  this 
church   as   its   pastor,  and    in   1842    represented    the 


124     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

church  in  the  Association,  with  Deacons  Samuel  Boles, 
A.  Sheftall,  and  Brother  Benjamin  Verderee;  member- 
ship, 212.  In  1843  the  delegation  was  John  Cuthbert 
and  Quives  Frazer;  membership,  252,  a  gain,  this 
year,  of  40.  In  1844,  Rev.  J.  Devoux,  J.  Cuthbert, 
and  S.  Boles ;  membership,  272,  a  gain  of  20  for  the 
year.  In  1845,  Delegate  J.  Cuthbert;  membership,  282, 
a  gain  of  10.  Rev.  J.  Devoux  resigned  the  pastorate, 
and  tlie  church  called  Rev.  Isaac  Roberts,  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Second  African  Church,  to  the  pastorate; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  this  church,  peacefully  organ- 
ized in  1802  with  members  of  this  parent  body  and 
those  who  had  received  letters  of  dismission,  has  fur- 
nished her  with  pastors  each  time  from  the  death  of 
the  old  patriarch.  Father  Andrew  Bryan.  This  year 
(1846)  the  delegates  to  the  Association  were  Rev.  I. 
Roberts,  the  fifth  pastor  called  from  the  Second  Church, 
and  Deacons  A.  Johnson  and  July  Ward;  the  mem- 
bershi]),  300,  a  gain  of  18.  In  1847,  Rev.  I.  Roberts, 
A.  Johnson,  S.  Boles;  membership,  298,  a  loss  of  2. 
In  1848,  Roberts,  Boles,  and  Frazer;  membership, 
305,  a  gain  of  7. 

Rev.  Mr.  Roberts  was  the  most  energetic  of  all  the 
pastors  since  Rev.  Mr.  Marshall.  In  the  second  year 
of  his  pastorate  he  made  a  change  in  the  house  of  wor- 
ship, by  making  an  entrance  on  Bryan  Street,  and 
the  building  was  put  in  thorough  repair  and  painted. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  125 

for,  from  its  erection,  in  1794,  it  had  never  received 
any  paint  until  1848.  The  pulpit  was  remodelled, 
the  inside  ceiled  and  painted,  galleries  were  put  in, 
and  the  Old  Jerusalem,  as  the  old  church  was  then 
familiarly  called,  had  put  on  her  new  dress,  which 
revived  her  greatly.  In  addition  to  Mr.  Roberts's 
energetic  spirit,  he  was  a  man  of  much  intelligence 
and  a  bold  and  spirited  preacher,  and  in  all  his  duties 
of  pastor  was  very  acceptable  to  the  people.  Un- 
fortunately for  this  church,  the  pastor  of  the  Second 
African  Church,  Rev.  Thomas  Anderson,  who  had  also 
been  pastor  here,  and  had  left  to  accept  a  call  from 
that  congregation,  died  this  year,  and  the  Second 
Church  was  without  a  pastor.  Much  to  the  regret  of 
this  mother-church,  and  against  her  earnest  entreaties, 
Rev.  Mr.  Roberts  resigned  the  pastorate  and  returned 
to  tl^e  Second  Church  in  the  belief  that  that  church 
would  tender  him  the  pastorate  whenever  she  again 
made  a  call,  and  again  this  church  was  left  with- 
out a  pastor.  Thus,  in  1849,  she  was  represented 
only  by  Deacon  S.  Boles;  her  membership  being  301, 
a  loss  of  4  for  the  year.  The  church  now  made  a 
call  for  Rev.  Brister  Lawton,  a  brother  from  Beaufort 
District,  South  Carolina,  who  accepted  the  call,  and 
preached  for  her  only  about  a  year.  The  delegates 
for  1850  were  Rev.  B.  Lawton  and  S.  Boles,  and  the 
membership  315,  a  gain   of   14  for  the  year.      The 


126     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Second  African  Church  made  a  call  for  a  pastor  also 
this  year,  but  chose  E,ev\  John  Cox,  another  of  her 
sons,  greatly  disappointing  Brother  Isaac  Roberts.  He 
and  Brother  Cox  were  business  partners.  The  effect 
upon  him  was  such  that  he  soon  after  left  the  country 
and  emigrated  to  Liberia,  Africa.  Thus  this  church 
had  to  suffer  for  the  second  time  from  the  ambitious 
pride  of  her  pastors.  Rev.  B.  Lawton  was  only  called 
for  a  year,  and  the  church  did  not  renew  the  call 
at  its  expiration,  and  in  1851  the  church,  for  the 
seventh  time  since  the  demise  of  Father  Bryan,  was 
without  a  pastor,  but  was  represented  in  the  Associa- 
tion that  year  by  Deacons  S.  Boles  and  Q.  Frazer; 
membership  205,  a  loss  of  110.  In  November  of  this 
year  they  called  to  the  deaconship  Grant  Simpson, 
Alexander  Harris,  Ulysses  L.  Houston,  and  Lewis 
Ross,  four  of  her  sons  of  zeal  and  ability,  which  gave 
much  strength  to  the  cause  and  aid  to  the  old  senior 
deacon,  Johnson. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  127 


CHAPTER    VITI. 


The  aged  senior  deacon  of  this  churcli,  whose  watch- 
ful care  over  her  interests  was  unceasing,  was  one  of 
the  strictest  disciplinarians  in  any  church  in  this  city; 
and  under  his  guidance  the  moral  tone  of  the  church 
was  truly  commendable.  Well  informed  in  the  rules 
of  debate  u}>on  the  questions  which  naturally  arose  in 
the  church  conferences, — a  qualification  which  but 
few  of  the  pastors  possessed, — he,  as  a  general  rule 
of  the  church,  presided  at  all  business  meetings 
unless  necessarily  absent,  and  from  the  discession  of 
Dr.  Marshall  he  was  in  deed  and  in  fact  the  ruling 
spirit  of  this  church ;  and  it  may  be  positively  asserted 
that  he  Nvatched  over  its  welfare  as  a  father  over  a 
loving  household  family;  and  equally  so  did  the 
church  revere  and  love  him,  though  at  times  they 
murmured  at  the  strictness  of  his  discipline;  but  his 
love  to  God  and  humanity,  with  the  ripe  experience 
he  possessed,  guided  them  rightly,  and  he  was  instru- 
mental in  the  saving  of  many  from  the  snares  and 
difficulties  in  this  life  and  into  the  haven  of  eternal 
rest  above. 

In  1852  the   church    called  to  ordination    Brother 


128     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Garrison  Frazer,  a  Baptist  from  the  State  of  Virginia, 
a  man  of  fair  natural  ability  and  good  delivery,  with  a 
limited  degree  of  education,  lately  brought  to  this  city 
by  his  owner.  He  was  ordained  pastor  in  December, 
1851.  There  became  attached  to  the  church  this  year 
another  brother,  Andrew  Neyle,  a  man  of  fine  natural 
attainments,  who,  from  the  opportunities  with  which 
he  had  been  blessed,  in  coming  in  contact  with  learned 
and  generous  masters,  had  acquired  some  education, 
and  was,  like  Mr.  G.  Frazer,  of  high-church  prin- 
ciples. He  came  from  the  First  African  Church  by 
letter,  having  been  baptized  by  Rev.  Mr.  Marshall  be- 
fore the  division,  and  departed  with  him  when  he  left. 
Both  of  these  brethren  were  of  pure  African  blood, 
and  they  added  great  strength  to  the  church  and  its 
cause.  Rev.  G.  Frazer  became  the  pastor  this  year 
and  Brother  Neyle  a  deacon.  Thus  the  delegation  to 
the  Association  was  Rev.  G.  Frazer,  Deacons  A.  John- 
son,* A.  Harris,  and  Quives  Frazer;  membership,  208. 

*  The  church  was  now  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of  her  aged  and 
faithful  deacon,  Adam  A.  Johnson,  the  ceaseless  watchman  over 
her  interests  for  about  forty  years,  who  now  was  called  to  yield 
up  his  trust  and  lay  down  his  cross.  He  died  March  19,  1853. 
The  following  testimonial,  by  one  of  the  members  of  this  church 
who  knew  him  well,  expresses  the  feelings  of  the  church  and 
community  towards  him : 

"Obituary.— Died,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1853,  Adam  Ar- 
QUiLE  Johnson,  aged  seventy-seven  years.     Thus,   after   long 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  129 

In  1853,  G.  Frazer,  Q.  Frazer,  and  A.  Neyle ;  mem- 
bership, 205.  In  1854,  G.  Frazer  and  Deacon  Alex- 
ander Harris;  membership,  213.  In  1855,  G.  Frazer, 
S.  Boles,  and  A.  Harris;  membership,  203.  In  1856, 
Deacons  A.  Harris  and  S.  Boles;  membership,  223,  a 
gain,  this  year,  of  20.  In  1857,  Kev.  G.  Frazer,  A. 
Harris,  and  A.  Neyle;  membership,  241.  In  1858 
the  church  was  not  represented  in  any  way  in  the  As- 
sociation. In  1859  by  Rev.  G.  Frazer;  membership, 
197,  a  loss,  this  year,  of  44.     It  may  be  here  observed 


suffering,  it  hath  pleased  the  Giver  of  all  good  to  take  unto 
himself  one  of  the  loveliest  of  his  creatures.  His  mission  on 
earth  seems  to  have  been  to  afford  an  assurance  to  men  that  even 
amid  the  sinfulness  of  this  world  native  goodness  might  bloom 
and  ripen  into  stainless  and  exalted  virtue.  Meekness  and  hu- 
mility walked  with  him,  and  he  took  no  thought  of  self;  he 
envied  not  another's  lot,  nor  triumphed  in  his  own.  As  an  elder 
he  was  blameless,  loving;  as  a  husband,  devoted  ;  as  a  brother, 
affectionate  and  ever  kind  ;  as  a  friend,  sincere  and  unchanging  ; 
as  a  Christian,  true  and  faithful  ;  as  a  man,  noble  and  lovely, 
shining  with  a  gentle  and  perpetual  radiance,  dispensing  kindness 
unto  all  around  him,  and  teaching  by  the  loftiness  of  example. 
He  is  not  dead, — God  hath  recalled  him  to  his  native  heaven. 
His  voice  will  be  heard  no  more  on  earth,  for  it  mingles  with  the 
sacred  choir  which  sing  around  the  throne, — his  form  will  no 
more  be  seen  among  us,  for  it  shines  an  angel  amid  angel  bands. 
And  yet  he  is  not  dead, — in  every  heart  that  knew  him  is  a  shrine 
to  his  memory,  a  place  where  he  will  live  forever.  Weep  not 
for  him  !  he  is  an  angel  now,  and  treads  the  floors  of  Paradise  ! 
All  darkness  wiped  from  his  brow,  and  sorrow  and  suffering 
banished  from  his  eyes,  victorious  over  death,  to  him  appears 
the  joys  of  heaven's  eternal  years  I    Weep  not  for  him  1 

"  Aug.  Benjamin." 


130     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

that  these  figures  do  not  in  all  cases  show  the  actual 
increase  of  the  church,  as  many  of  tlie  members  at 
times  were  taken  away  from  the  city  and  the  country 
and  sold  by  their  owners,  and  could  not  be  accounted 
for  to  the  Association  in  its  assessment  upon  the 
churches  for  missionary  funds  to  pay  the  white  breth- 
ren who  preached  to  the  slaves  at  times.  Each  of  the 
colored  and  white  churches  were  taxed  according  to 
their  membership  as  reported  to  the  Association  at 
each  yearly  meeting.  Thus  our  colored  cliurches  often 
only  reported  those  members  residing  in  the  city,  and 
from  whom  it  was  possible  to  collect  this  tax. 

In  1860  the  delegates  were  S.  Boles  and  A.  Neyle; 
membership  199.  In  1861  there  was  no  meeting  of 
the  Sunbury  Association  ;  but  in  May  of  that  year 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  (white)  met  in 
Savannah  with  the  Baptist  church.  There  was  great 
excitement  throughout  the  country  on  account  of  the 
breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  between  the  States. 
It  was  a  time  for  great  caution  in  our  churches. 
^'  Be  ye  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves"  came 
home  with  much  force  to  every  negro  Christian's 
heart,  and  especially  those  who  stood  in  the  awfully 
responsible  position  of  officers  of  the  colored  churches. 
The  pastor,  Mr.  G.  Frazer,  gave  notice  of  a  desire 
to  resign  his  charge.  Deacon  U.  L.  Houston  had 
been   licensed  to  preach  in   1855.     He  was  in  every 


REV.    ULYSSES   L.   HOUSTON. 


Page  131. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  131 

sense  a  son  of  tlie  church.  Born  in  1825,  in  South 
Carolina,  he  came  to  the  city  when  a  child,  the  slave 
of  Mr.  James  B.  Hogg,  a  thorough  Baptist,  and  a 
deacon  of  the  Savannah  Baptist  Church  until  his  old 
age.  He  had  raised  Ulysses  in  his  home  with  much 
care  and  piety;  thus  lie  became  converted  in  1841,  and 
joined  this  church  at  the  age  of  sixteen ;  so,  like  Samuel 
of  old,  he  grew  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  He  becauie 
early  a  member  of  the  singing  choir,  in  1851  a  deacon, 
and,  as  has  been  said,  was  licensed  in  1855,  often  aiding 
the  pastor  in  the  meetings  of  the  church  and  country 
societies ;  and  now,  as  he  was  about  to  relinquish  his 
charge,  he  advised  the  church  to  ordain  for  her  service 
this  young  son  of  her  own  spiritual  raising.  Having 
resolved  to  carry  out  this  advice,  and  the  time  seeming 
auspicious,  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  being  in 
session  here,  and  no  ordination  of  negro  preachers  being 
possible  without  the  presence  and  sanction  of  the 
white  brethren,  the  church,  through  the  pastor,  made 
application  to  the  executive  board  of  the  Sunbury  As- 
sociation, who  came  to  the  church  and  examined  him 
and  took  the  opportunity  of  the  presence  of  the  con- 
vention to  have  him  ordained  by  that  body.  Rev.  S. 
Landrura,  the  chairman  of  the  board,  so  invited  the 
convention,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  excitements  of 
that  ever-memorable  month  and  year,  a  Presbytery  of 
the  white  members  of  that  convention  repaired  to  the 


132     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

church  on  tlie  12th  of  May,  1861,  and  set  apart  to  the 
gospel  ministry,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  Ulysses  L. 
Houston.  Six  months  after,  on  the  20th  of  October, 
the  church  called  him  to  the  pastoral  care,  and  he  be- 
came the  ninth  from  Rev.  Andrew  Bryan,  and,  like 
the  old  founder,  he  was  born  in  Carolina,  raised  in 
Georgia,  a  slave  of  a  kind  master,  with  like  privileges; 
and  he  is  the  only  one  ever  pastor  that  was  a  son  of 
that  church  since  the  first,  and  has  proven  a  veritable 
prototype. 

In  1862  the  delegation  to  the  Association  was  Rev. 
U.  L.  Houston  and  Deacon  A.  Harris ;  membership, 
106.  We  were  now  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  strife 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  South  being  the  prin- 
cipal battle-ground,  the  danger  to  the  church  was  very 
great  and  her  sorrows  also.  Many  of  her  members 
were  run  off  up  the  country  by  their  owners,  fearing 
to  lose  them,  causing  sad  separations  and  the  breaking 
up  of  family  ties.  Again,  some  of  the  male  members 
absconded  rather  than  be  carried  away,  some  of  whom, 
later,  went  into  the  lines  of  the  Northern  army  for  free- 
dom. All  of  these  incidents  had  a  fearful  effect  upon 
the  church  ;  yet  she  was  kept  by  the  power  of  God, 
through  faith  unto  her  salvation,  in  the  even  tenor  of 
her  way,  and  at  no  period  during  the  war  was  her  wor- 
ship interfered  with  or  her  officers  held  to  account  for 
the  private  acts  of  her  members.     Their  service  to  the 


TN  NORTH  AMERICA.  133 

church  and  its  members  as  individuals  being  strictly 
religious,  gave  no  cause  for  offence  to  the  owners. 
"Whatever  were  the  thoughts  upon  the  questions  and 
results  of  the  war,  tliere  was  no  allusion  to  them  in 
the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  Yet  a  careful  private 
council  was  held  frequently  among  the  official  brethren 
relative  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  extremely  criti- 
cal periods;  but  the  secret  thoughts  belong  to  God, 
and  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  its  close  there 
was  an  abiding  hope  in  every  breast  that  God  would 
in  the  end  grant  us  freedom.  By  the  grace  of  God  pru- 
dence never  forsook  nor  did  patience  fail  in  the  church. 
It  was  in  this  year  that  the  first  ray  of  freedom's 
dawning  broke  upon  our  hearts  in  the  proclamation 
issued  by  President  Lincoln  on  September  22,  1862. 
It  reached  our  city  very  soon  after  being  issued.  At 
first  it  was  only  whispered  around  by  the  white  citi- 
zens, but  it  was  soon  openly  spoken  of  to  the  servants, 
accompanied  with  the  assurance  that  this  emancipa- 
tion proclamation  could  never  be  enforced.  Who, 
then,  could  estimate  or  describe  with  tongue  or  pen 
the  struggle  in  their  hearts  between  hope  and  fear  f 
Who  can  measure  the  prayer  offered  in  secret  at  this 
period  and  know  its  effects?  Neither  men  nor  angels 
could,  we  think,  be  equal  to  the  task.  Only  the 
divine  mind  of  Jehovah  knows.  The  one  hundred 
days  passed  and  the  old  year  also  passed  into  the 
7 


134     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

aunals  of  time,  aud,  as  had  ever  been  the  custom  of 
the  church  for  some  years,  by  permission  from  the 
mayor  of  the  city,  they  assembled  in  their  house  of 
worship  and  held  a  watch-meeting,  singing  and  pray- 
ing until  the  new  year  came  in  ;  then  greeted  each 
other  with  a  happy  new  year,  and  then  separated.  Oh, 
there  was  a  secret  meaning  in  this  greeting  on  the  first 
of  January,  1863,  that  could  not  then  be  expressed, 
and  should  never  be  forgotten  !  But  with  all  this  out- 
ward turmoil  and  the  inward  panting  for  the  long- 
looked-for  and  often-prayed-for  freedom  now  promised 
by  that  decree,  a  perfect  equanimity  was  maintained. 
All  moved  along  as  empty  pitchers,*  but  the  glowing 
lamp  of  prayer  was  burning  brightly  in  their  hearts. 
It  was  not  yet  time  for  these  gospel  trumpeters  to 
blow  "  the  year  of  Jubilee  had  come,"  though  the 
church  and  her  choir  were  wont  to  sing  of  it  on  many 
communion  days  in  the  past.  She  now  refrained  at 
this  peculiar  day.  The  tongue  must  be  dumb  upon 
that  theme;  it  was  the  soul  that  sung.  The  music 
was  not  for  earth's  ears,  but  it  was  heard  in  heaven ; 
and  who  can  say  that  Fathers  George  Leyle  and  An- 
drew Bryan,  Mothers  Hannah  Bryan,  Kate  Hogg,  and 
Hagar  Simpson,  and  the  hosts  who  with  them  and  by 
their  labors  and  prayers  came  through  the  great  tribu- 

*  Judges  vii.  16,  17,  18. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  135 

latioDS  of  the  moral  bondage,  did  not  uj)  there  repeat 
the  song  in  joyous  strains  before  the  Lamb  above  on 
that  New  Year  morning  of  1863? 

This  year  the  delegation  to  the  Association  was  U. 
L.  Houston,  pastor,  and  A.  Harris;  membership  re- 
ported, 225;  and  in  1864,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston  and 
Deacon  Andrew  Neyle  ;  membership,  261. 

The  meetings  of  the  Association  have  ever  convened 
in  the  month  of  November ;  and  this  session  is  notable 
in  two  or  three  particulars.  The  first  is  that  whereas 
there  were  thirteen  of  the  churches  known  as  colored, 
but  three  (the  First  African,  Second  African,  and  this 
church)  met  with  the  body  that  year.*  The  absentees 
were  the  Ogeechee,  Abercorn,  White  Bluff,  Oakland, 
White  Oak,  Bethlehem,  St.  Catharine's,  Skidaway, 
St.  Marys,  and  Clifton.  It  is  true  that  though  these 
were  negro  churches,  six  of  them  had  white  pastors 
and  all  but  two  were  country  churches.  Again,  their 
absence  was  caused,  no  doubt,  by  the  demoralized 
state  of  things  here  at  that  time.  The  meeting  was 
held  with  Salem  church,  about  twelve  miles  west 
of  Savannah,  on  the  Louisville  road.  The  Federal 
army,  in  command  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  was 
marching  through  Georgia   and   approaching   in   the 

*  We  mention  these  churches  incidentally  as  evidence  of  the 
increase  of  churches  of  our  race  in  the  lower  part  of  the  country 
up  to  this  time,  as  it  closes  the  control  of  our  white  brethren. 


136     TEE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

direction  of  this  city.  Tliere  was  a  vigilant  patrol- 
guard  in  the  vicinity  of  the  church  at  night,  and  the 
house  in  which  the  colored  brethren  lodged  was  entered 
after  dark,  and  tickets  from  their  owners  demanded, 
permitting  them  to  be  absent  from  home.  Some  of 
the  men  of  this  patrol-guard  were  in  the  session  of 
the  Association  during  that  day.  The  colored  brethren 
went  to  the  meeting  of  the  Association  carrying  only 
their  letters  of  credential,  which  they  had  handed  to 
the  clerk  of  the  body.  Rev.  D.  J.  Daniel ;  they  had 
nothing  to  show  but  their  railroad  tickets.  Without 
saying  what  was  their  intention,  the  squad  rode  away 
from  their  lodging-place  and  returned  no  more  that 
night.  The  brethren  could  sleep  no  more  then ;  but 
in  the  morning  they  reported  it  to  the  Moderator  of  the 
Association  then  convened ;  and  it  is  due  to  justice 
and  truth  to  record  that  some  of  the  white  brethren, 
more  especially  the.  Moderator,  Rev.  Silvanus  Landrum, 
on  receiving  the  report,  were  indignant.  A  committee 
was  appointed  for  the  protection  of  the  colored 
brethren,  but  they  took  no  further  risks ;  they  nearly 
all  left  and  returned  to  the  city  that  day.  This  was 
the  last  session  of  the  old  Sunbury  Association.  In 
about  thirty  days  thereafter  the  Federal  army  of  occu- 
pation entered  Savannah,  and  then  they  realized  what 
our  fathers  desired,  prayed,  and  looked  for  in  faith, — 
"  And  these  all,  having  obtained  a  good  report  through 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  I37 

faith,  received  not  the  promise,  God  having  provided 
some  better  tiling  for  us  tliat  they  without  us  should 
not  be  made  perfect."  When  the  morning  h'ght  of 
the  22d  of  December,  1864,  broke  in  upon  us,  tlie 
streets  of  our  city  were  tlironged  in  every  part  with 
the  victorious  army  of  liberty;  every  tramp,  look, 
command,  and  military  movement  told  us  that  they 
had  come  for  our  deliverance,  and  were  able  to  secure 
it  to  us,  and  the  cry  went  around  the  city  from  house 
to  house  among  our  race  of  people,  "  Glory  be  to  God, 
we  are  free !" 

"Shout  the  ghid  tidings  o'er  Egypt's  dark  sea, 
Jeliovah  has  triumphed,  his  people  are  free !" 

This  old  Zion  of  God  resounded  with  praises  and 
thanksgivii%  to  God  for  his  great  deliverance  of  his 
people ;  but  while  doing  this  our  people  were  mindful 
of  charity ;  and,  save  maintaining  and  enjoying  their 
freedom  in  a  proper,  modest  manner,  they  acted  with 
courtesy  and  decorum  towards  their  owners  and  em- 
ployers, as  formerly,  many  remaining  for  long  periods 
with  them  without  remuneration.  If  any  disagree- 
ments arose,  it  was  not  on  the  part  of  the  members  of 
the  church ;  and  if  there  w^ere  any  exceptions  they 
were  remarkably  few,  as  many  yet  living  well  know. 

Two  days  after  the  aruiy  entered  the  city,  the 
colored  ministers  and  some  of  the  other  officers   of 


138     I'SE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

their  churches  called  upon  Major-General  Sherman, 
the  commander,  to  pay  their  respects,  and  offer  humble 
thanks  for  their  deliverance  from  bondage.  They 
were  received  very  cordially,  and  were  each  personally 
introduced  by  name  and  position  in  their  church : 
among  whom  were  the  pastor  and  the  deacons  of  this 
church.  It  so  happened  that  the  Secretary  of  "War 
under  President  Lincoln,  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  was 
present  at  this  interview,  and  also  received  an  intro- 
duction. Both  himself  and  the  general  gave  many 
kindly  expressions  relative  to  the  changed  con(3ition  of 
themselves  and  people,  with  assurances  of  protection 
and  provision  until  settled ;  but  enjoining  industry 
and  sobriety.  The  brethren  with  thanks  sent  their 
message  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  Secretary, 
and  modestly  retired.  This  interview  took  place  at 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Charles  Green,  Madison  Square, 
then  the  headquarters  of  General  Sherman,  on  the  23d 
of  December,  1864.  Rev.  Garrison  Frazer,  ex-pastor 
of  this  church,  introduced  the  brethren.  The  war- 
cloud  seemed  to  be  passing  away,  and  some  of  the 
scattered  and  wandering  members  found  their  way 
back  to  the  fold.  Many  Baptists  who  had  left  their 
homes  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State,  and  had  followed 
in  the  wake  of  the  army  marching  through  from 
Atlanta  to  this  city,  now  located  themselves  here  in 
Savannah,  seeking  a  place  where  they  might  find  rest. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  139 

Tliey  were  welcomed  and  taken  under  watchful  care  of 
the  church,  until  they  became  settled  in  the  fold  of 
Christ ;  and  by  these  wandering  Christian  pilgrims 
the  numbers  in  the  congregation  were  considerably 
augmented.  All  who  could  properly  account  for  them- 
selves were  welcomed  to  share  in  the  privileges  and 
blessings  of  this  old  Zion  of  God  until  they  could 
return  to  the  church  of  their  membership,  some  of 
whom  were  well-known  in  the  former  days  of  peace. 
These  duties  and  the  continuous  service  of  our  Lord 
in  his  house  every  evening  but  Saturday,  and  four 
meetings  on  the  Sabbath,  the  praises  of  the  God  who 
had  with  a  strong  hand  and  outstretched  arm  delivered 
his  people,  was  heard  for  months  while  the  Union 
soldiers  occupied  the  city  and  its  suburbs,  guarding  the 
peace  and  liberty  of  all  who  prayed  for  the  peace, 
unity,  and  prosperty  of  these  United  States;  and  this 
did  the  churches  with  fervent  zeal.  But  their  joy  and 
thanksgiving  met  a  sudden  and  serious  check :  the 
skies  of  hope,  that  seemed  so  clear  and  beautiful  to 
faith's  vision,  were  overshadowed,  as  it  were,  in  a 
moment  by  the  terrible  announcement  that  President 
Lincoln  had  been  assassinated  on  the  evening  of  the  14th 
of  April.  The  gloom  was  for  a  moment  paralyzing. 
What  did  it  mean  ?  was  the  question.  Like  Luther  in 
the  Reformation,  the  leading  brethren  soon  recovered 
their  faith  in  God,  and  felt  that  what  he  commands 


140     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

is  certainly  wisest  and  best,  and  that  what  he  permits 
he  is  able  to  overrule  for  the  greatest  good  to  those 
who  love  and  trust  him.  So,  in  the  midst  of  this 
gloom  and  sorrow  for  the  death  of  this  great  and 
wonderfully-gifted  man,  whom  God  in  his  providence 
had  raised  up  to  be  the  great  emancipator  of  our  race 
in  North  America,  they  did  seem  to  feel  and  believe 
that,  notwithstanding  his  death,  "  God  is  our  refuge  and 
strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble,  therefore  will 
we  not  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed  and  though 
mountains  be  carried  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  God 
is  in  the  midst,  and  we  shall  not  be  moved. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  I41 


CHAPTER    IX. 


By  a  call  of  some  of  the  ordained  ministers  of  our 
denomination,  among  whom  was  the  pastor  of  this 
church,  a  convention  met  at  Mitchellville,  upon  the 
island  of  Hilton  Head,  in  South  Carolina,  on  Friday, 
July  14,  1865.  This  church  sent  to  that  convention 
as  delegates  her  pastor.  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Deacon 
A.  Plarris,  and  Brother  S.  Whitfield.  Upon  the 
assembling  of  that  body,  composed  wholly  of  colored 
members,  Rev.  Mr.  Houston  was  chosen  chairman, 
and  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  the  body  until 
an  Association  was  organized.  The  representation  in 
that  body  consisted  of  four  churches  from  Savannah, 
who  were  members  of  the  Sunbury  Association,  and 
three  churches  of  Beaufort  District,  South  Carolina, 
constituted  during  the  war.  Rev.  John  Cox,  pastor  of 
the  Second  African  Baptist  Church,  Savannah,  and 
the  oldest  ordained  minister  in  the  body,  was  elected 
Moderator  of  the  Association  upon  its  organization  ; 
Brother  K.  S.  Thomas  was  chosen  clerk,  and  subse- 
quently the  pastor  of  this  church,  treasurer.  He  also 
preached  the  opening  sermon  before  the  Association 
from  the  text,  "  3Ti/  jyresence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will 
7* 


142     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

give  thee  rest,"  Exodus  xxxiii.  14.  Thus  this  oldest 
church  was  recognized  at  the  organization  of  the  First 
Negro  Baptist  Association  in  the  two  States  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina  by  having  the  honor  of  first 
presiding,  first  preaching  the  word,  and  first  holding 
the  financial  trust;  and  these  honors  were  conferred 
by  the  colored  brethren  present,  who  were  capable  of 
knowing  her  true  position,  having  been  associated  with 
her  in  the  old  organization  of  mixed  Baptist  churches 
for  many  years.  The  first  honor  was  given  this  church, 
and  the  secoud  honor  to  the  Second,  which  was  organ- 
ized out  of  this  in  1802,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bryan  and 
others.  Moreover,  in  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
to  draft  the  constitution  and  by-laws  for  the  Zion  Bap- 
tist Association,  the  committee  stood :  A.  Harris,  A. 
Bourke,  W.  J.  Campbell,  A.  Mercherson,  and  J. 
Jones, — this  church  having  the  chairmanship. 

To  extend  her  usefulness  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
and  to  give  to  the  missionary  cause  her  aid,  she  sent 
her  pastor  to  meet  the  Consolidated  Missionary  Baptist 
Convention  of  the  United  States,  which  met  at  Alex- 
andria, Virginia,  in  August,  1865,  and  offered  herself 
for  membership  in  that  body,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
representatives  from  the  Southern  States  in  that  con- 
vention. 

After  the  return  of  the  delegates  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Zion  Association  the  church  decided  that 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  143 

this  was  the  proper  time  to  designate  tliis  the  oldest 
organization  of  a  colored  Baptist  church,  seeing  that 
the  God-given  rights  of  discipleship  in  Ciirist  and  the 
power  to  act  and  control  her  own  affairs  was  no  longer 
restrained  as  formerly;  resolved,  as  a  fitting  name  and 
designation,  she  should  be  henceforward  known  as  the 
First  Bryan  Baptist  Church;  and  authorized  her 
officers  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  procure  for  her 
chartered  rights  to  hold  and  control  the  property  in 
her  now  designated  title, — which  was  subsequently 
done,  and  at  the  next  session  of  the  Association  re- 
ported a  title  of  her  own  choosing,  a  privilege  never 
yet  freely  used.  Constituted  originally  a  Baptist  body, 
her  particular  designation  had  ever  been  circumstan- 
tial and  of  the  choosing  of  others :  thus  colored, 
from  the  shade  of  the  physical  complexion  of  her 
members;  African,  as  to  the  country  from  which  her 
early  ancestors  had  come;  the  number  as  enrolled 
among  the  churches  by  the  white  brethren  controlling 
the  Association,  Old  Jerusalem,  as  an  endearing  appel- 
lation akin  to  the  heavenly  promise ;  but  now  choosing 
this  name  designed  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  her 
founder,  and  put  herself  back  in  her  true  position. 

The  Zion  Baptist  Association  met  with  the  First 
African  Baptist  Church  at  Savannah,  July  13,  1866, 
the  delegation  from  this  church  being  U.  L.  Houston 
and  A.  Harris.     The  first  statistical  report  since  1864 


144     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

to  the  Sunbury  was  given  then.  Her  membership  was 
261.  She  reported  at  this  latter  session  :  baptized  this 
year,  90;  received  by  letter,  80;  restored,  18;  ex- 
pelled, 10;  died,  10;  showing  an  increase  of  118  and 
a  loss  of  20, — a  neat  gain  of  98;  and  a  membership 
of  462,  and  increase  in  membership  of  201  since  1864. 
The  next  session  of  the  Association  met  in  Florida  in 
July,  1867.  The  church,  which  was  represented  by 
letter,  reported  :  baptized  for  the  year,  51 ;  and  member- 
ship, 513.  The  church  had  in  1866  ordained  to  the 
M'ork  of  the  gospel  ministry,  as  an  evangelist  and  mis- 
sionary, Brother  Andrew  JSTeyle,  whose  labors  have 
been  wonderfully  blessed.  He  entered  the  work  upon 
the  mission  of  the  Association  this  session,  and  con- 
tinued several  years  in  their  service.  The  church  also 
in  this  year  obtained  her  charter. 

"K.  D.  AKNOLD  et  al,  TRUSTEES,  TO  TRUSTEES  OF 
FIRST  BRYAN   BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

"State  of  Geoegia,      \ 
"Chatham  County,     j 

"  This  Indenture,  made  this  seventeenth  day  of 
April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-seven.  Between  Richard  D.  Arnold, 
Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau,  all  of  said 
County  and  State,  of  the  first  part,  and  Alexander 
Harris,  Lewis  Ross,  I.  W.  Toer,  Quibus  Fraser,  and 
Daniel  Butler,  also  of  said  County  and  State,  Trustees 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  I45 

as  hereinafter  mentioned,  of  the  second  part,  Whereas, 
by  a  certain  deed  of  Indenture  entered  into  and  exe- 
cuted on  the  third  day  of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven  between 
Andrew  Bryan,  a  free  bhick  man  and  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  by  lawful  authority  ordained,  of  the  one  part, 
and  Thomas  Polhill,  William  Mathews,  David  Fox, 
and  Josiah  Fox,  of  the  said  State  of  Georgia,  of  the 
other  part,  it  was  witnessed,  that  the  said  Andrew 
Bryan,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  Thirty 
pounds  sterling  money  to  him  in  hand  paid,  did  grant, 
bargain,  sell,  aliene,  convey,  and  confirm  unto  the  said 
Thomas  Polhill,  William  Mathews,  David  Fox,  and 
Josiah  Fox,  and  the  survivors  and  survivor  of  them,  and 
to  such  successor  and  successors  of  them  as  might  be 
appointed  by  the  survivor  of  them  in  the  manner  in 
the  said  deed  directed,  in  trust  and  to  and  for  the  use 
of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Blacks  at  Savannah,  over 
which  the  said  Andrew  Bryan  did  tlien  preside,  and 
had  for  some  time  presided,  as  pastor  and  minister,  one 
equal  moiety,  being  the  half  of  all  that  lot  of  land 
(most  part  of  said  lot)  situate  lying  and  being  at  Yam- 
acraw  above  the  City  of  Savannah,  known  by  the 
number  seven  (7)  in  the  village  of  St.  Gall,  fronting 
Bryan  or  Odingsell  Street,  containing  nearly  ninety- 
five  (95)  feet  in  front  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
and  a  half  (132^)  in  depth  ;  bounded  West  and  South 
by  land  of  the  late  Doctor  Zubly,  deceased ;  East 
by  a  lot  late  the  property  of  Richard  Williams,  de- 
ceased ;  and  North  by  the  main  street  leading  from 
Yamacraw  to  the  Brick  Meeting-House,  together  with 


146     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

the  Brick  Meeting-House  thereon  erected  and  standing, 
and  all  and  singular  the  houses,  out-houses,  premises, 
and  appurtenances  to  the  same  belonging.  To  Hold 
the  same  for  the  sole  use  and  purpose  of  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God  by  the  society  of  Blacks  of  the  Baptist  per- 
suasion, and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever,  and 
that  on  the  death  of  any  or  either  of  the  above-named 
Trustees  the  survivor  or  survivors  might  or  should 
within  one  year  thereafter  nominate  and  appoint  a  suc- 
cessor or  successors  in  the  room  of  such  deceased  Trus- 
tee, which  successor  or  successors  so  appointed  should 
be  considered  as  a  party  to  the  said  deed  for  the  uses 
and  purposes  thereby  intended,  all  of  which  will  more 
fully  appear,  reference  being  had  to  said  deed.  And, 
Whereas,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  said  deed, 
the  said  William  Mathews,  as  surviving  Trustee,  did 
nominate,  constitute,  and  appoint  by  his  deed  of  In- 
denture, dated  the  sixth  day  of  December,  one  thousand 
eigth  hundred  and  twenty-four,  Moses  Cleland,  Josiah 
Penfield,  and  Edward  Coppee  to  be  co-trustees  of  the 
said  property,  under  and  by  virtue  of  said  deed.  And 
Whereas  the  said  Edward  Coppee,  as  survivor  of  the 
said  Trustees  hereinbefore  last  mentioned,  did  nomi- 
nate, constitute,  and  appoint  by  his  deed  of  Indenture, 
dated  the  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight 

hundred  and  forty,  William  W.  Wash,  Richard  D. 
Arnold,  and  Abram  Harmon  to  be  co-trustees  of  the 
said  property  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  said  deed. 
And  Whereas  the  said  Richard  D.  Arnold,  as  survivor  of 
the  Trustees  hereinbefore  last  mentioned,  did  nominate, 
constitute,  and  appoint  by  his  deed  of  Indenture,  dated 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  147 

the  twenty-third  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty,  J.  W.  Rabun,  Farley  R,.  Sweat, 
and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau  to  be  co-trustees  of  the  said  prop- 
erty under  and  by  virtue  of  the  said  deed,  all  of  which 
will  more  fully  appear,  reference  being  had  to  said  In- 
dentures. And  Whereas  the  said  J.  W.  Rabun  has 
departed  this  life  and  the  said  Richard  D.  Arnold, 
Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau  are  the  sur- 
viving Trustees  under  said  last-mentioned  appointment, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  the  said  original  In- 
denture. And  Whereas,  by  the  ordinances  and  laws 
of  the  State  of  Georgia,  the  members  of  and  constitu- 
ting the  said  Baptist  Church  of  Blacks  are  now  in- 
vested with  full  and  equal  legal  rights  and  capacities, 
and  are  no  longer  subject  to  any  legal  disabilities. 
And  Whereas,  under  and  by  virtue  of  said  laws,  the 
members  of  said  Church  were  duly  incorporated  at  the 
January  Term,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  of 
the  Superior  Court  for  Chatham  County  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  as 
will  fully  appear,  reference  being  had  to  the  records  of 
said  Court.  And  Whereas,  in  and  by  said  Act  of  in- 
corporation, it  is  amongst  other  things  provided  that  the 
said  Church  may  appoint  such  officers  and  Trustees  as 
to  it  may  appear  proper,  who  may  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  said  corporation,  and  may  receive  and  hold  the 
property  thereof  to  them  and  their  successors  in  office, 
and  may  control  the  same  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  said  Church  according  to  the  rules  of  discipline 
and  method  of  Church  government.  And  Whereas, 
in  and  by  a  decree  in  Equity  had  and  obtained  at  the 


148     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

January  Term  aforesaid  of  the  Superior  Court  for  the 
County  of  Chatham,  it  is  ordered  that  the  said  Richard 
D.  Arnold,  Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau, 
Trustees  as  aforesaid,  do  grant,  transfer,  and  assign  to 
the  said  Church,  or  to  the  Trustees  thereof  and  their 
successors  in  oflBce,  the  estate  and  property  of  the  said 
Church  held  by  them  as  aforesaid,  to  be  received,  held, 
and  controlled  by  the  said  Trustees  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  said  Church  according  to  the  trusts  upon 
which  said  property  was  originally  granted,  and  the 
Trustees  of  the  said  Church  and  their  successors  in 
office  are  by  the  said  decree  appointed  and  constituted 
Trustees  to  receive  and  manage  the  said  property  as 
aforesaid.  And  it  is  further  ordered  and  decreed  that 
upon  executing  such  grant  and  transfer  the  said  Rich- 
ard D.  Arnold,  Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau 
be  relieved  from  all  further  trust  and  from  all  responsi- 
bility in  or  about  the  said  property,  all  of  which  will 
more  fully  appear,  reference  being  had  to  said  decree. 
Now,  therefore,  this  Indenture  Witnesseth,  that  the 
said  Richard  D.  Arnold,  Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis 
C.  Tebeau,  said  parties  of  the  first  part,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  premises  and  of  the  incorporation  aforesaid, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  them  vested  by  the  said 
decree,  and  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
Five  dollars  to  them  in  hand  paid  at  and  before  the 
sealing  and  delivery  of  these  presents,  the  receipt,  where- 
of is  hereby  acknowledged.  Have  granted,  bargained, 
sold,  assigned,  transferred,  released,  and  confirmed,  and 
by  these  presents  Do  grant,  bargain,  sell,  assign,  trans- 
fer, release,  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Alexander  Har- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  149 

ris,  Lewis  Ross,  J.  W.  Toer,  Quibiis  Fraser,  and 
Daniel  Butler,  said  parties  of  the  second  part,  Trus- 
tees of  the  said  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church  and  their 
successors  in  office  and  assigns,  the  said  lot  of  land 
and  Brick  Meeting-House  and  all  and  singular  the 
premises  and  property  of  the  said  Church,  held  by 
them  in  trust  as  aforesaid,  and  all  of  the  estate,  right, 
title,  property,  and  interest  of  every  nature  and  kind 
of  the  said  parties  of  the  first  part.  To  Have  and  To 
Hold  the  said  bargained  premises  and  every  of  them 
unto  the  said  parties  of  the  second  part  as  Trustees  of 
the  said  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  and  to  their 
successors  in  office  and  assigns  forever.  In  Trust, 
nevertheless,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  and  to  and  for  the  several  uses,  intents,  and 
purposes  in  the  said  original  deed  of  trust  specified 
and  hereinbefore  in  part  recited,  and  to  and  for  no 
other  uses,  intents,  or  purposes  whatsoever. 

"  In  Witness  whereof,  the  said  Richard  D.  Arnold, 
Farley  R.  Sweat,  and  Lewis  C.  Tebeau,  Trustees  as 
aforesaid,  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and  seals  the 
day  and  year  first  above  written. 

"  R.  D.  Arnold,  [l.s.] 

"Lewis  C.  Tebeau,     [l.s.] 
"  F.  R.  Sweat.  [l.s.] 

"Signed,  Sealed,  and  Delivered  in  presence  of  us, 
"R.  Wayne  Russell, 
"  Geo.  a.  Mercer, 

"  Not.  Pub.,  a  C,  Ga. 


150     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

"Not  subject  to  stamp  duty, 

"  A.  N.  Wilson,  Coll. 

"  Recorded  May  11, 1867,  Book  3  Z%  folios  26  dseq. 

"Georgia,  Chatham  County,      1 
"  Clerk's  Office,  Superior  Court.  / 

"  I,  Barnard  E.  Bee,  clerk  of  said  Court,  do  hereby 
certify  the  writing  on  this  and  the  foregoing  six  pages 
to  be  a  true  copy  of  the  above  deed,  as  appears  of 
record  in  this  office  in  Book  3  Z',  folios  26  et  seq. 

"  In  Testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereto  set  my  official 
signature  and  affixed  the  seal  of  said  Court  this  26tli 
day  of  January,  a.d.  1884. 

[l.s.]  "  Barnard  E.  Bee, 

"  cierh,  8.  a  a  a" 

In  1868  the  church  was  represented  in  the  Associa- 
tion by  Rev.  A.  Neyle  and  A.  Harris.  (The  pastor 
had  leave  of  absence  to  be  in  attendance  as  a  member 
of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  he  having  been  elected  to 
the  lower  house,  representing  the  county  of  Bryan  in 
that  body.)  The  statistics  were:  baptized,  33;  re- 
ceived by  letter,  13  ;  membership,  541, — gain,  28.  In 
1869  the  delegates  were  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston  and  A. 
Harris.  Baptized,  53;  received  by  letter,  14;  mem- 
bership, 574.  In  1870  represented  by  Houston,  G. 
Frazer,  A.  Harris,  and  James  Andrews ;  baptized,  20 ; 
received  by  letter,  2 ;  membership,  583.     The  pastor 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  151 

was  still  engaged  iu  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the 
State  legislature,  and  attended  this  session  by  leave  of 
absence  from  that  assembly.  After  he  returned  to 
Atlanta,  the  seat  of  government,  a  conspiracy  was 
formed  to  oust  him  from  his  pastorate,  which  he  had 
held  for  about  nine  years.  By  his  zeal  and  the  grace 
that  had  been  given  him  from  God,  evidenced  by  the 
success  he  had  attained, — a  success  beyond  any  pastor 
that  had  served  the  church  since  Mr.  A.  Marshall, — 
he  had  endeared  himself  to  a  large  majority  of  the 
members,  and  in  many  ways  was  quite  acceptable  to 
the  community,  until,  for  two  or  more  years  past,  he 
had  taken  some  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  the 
State,  which  became  necessary  under  the  new  order  of 
affairs  iu  the  country,  giving  the  franchise  to  the 
emancipated  slaves  and  creating  them  citizens  by  law. 
In  seeking  out  men  to  represent  the  colored  people  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation  and  State,  it  was  believed 
that  the  most  competent  men  were  to  be  found,  with 
few  exceptions,  among  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ ;  and  while  it  is  to  be  deeply  regretted  that  this 
was  so,  on  account  of  a  sound  principle  in  the  govern- 
ment of  this  country,  that  it  is  best  to  have  a  separa- 
tion of  Clrtirch  and  State,  yet  in  the  very  nature  of 
things  in  the  past  of  our  people  it  was  unavoidable ; 
and  thus  many  pastors  and  preachers  necessarily  had 
to  leave  their  flock  and  legitimate  field  of  labor  to 


152      "THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

enter  the  arena  of  politics  in  order  to  secure  right  and 
justice  for  their  people.  And  the  people  instinctively 
felt  this  necessity,  and  consented  to  their  spiritual  de- 
privation for  the  time  being,  notwithstanding  the  white 
citizens  among  whom  they  lived  and  served,  and  the 
late  owners,  constantly  spoke  disparagingly  of  the 
ministers  who  served  in  these  positions.  They  very 
often  convinced  some  men  of  weak  judgment  and 
vacillating  minds  among  our  race,  and  thereby  excited 
dissension  and  division  even  in  our  churches ;  but 
there  were  also  some  men  of  intelligence  and  ability, 
capable  of  better  judgment,  who,  jealous  of  the  suc- 
cess of  others  in  the  positions  they  were  chosen  to, 
became  easily  incited  to  opposition  and  evil  designs, 
and  fitting  tools  for  those  whose  purpose  it  was 
to  divide  and  weaken  our  people,  the  better  to  prey 
upon  and  again  enslave  them  by  weaving  a  web 
of  circumstances  around  them  of  secondary  bondage 
inexplicable,  at  least  for  many  years ;  thus  many  new 
trials  arose  with  which  the  church  had  never  had  any 
experience,  and  which  they  now  had  to  meet  and  over- 
come by  faith  and  humble  prayer. 

Since  the  death  of  the  aged  deacon,  Adam  Johnson, 
in  1853,  no  deacon  of  the  church,  it  seem's,  possessed 
those  controlling  qualities  which  he  exhibited  in  the 
degree  that  brother  Alexander  Harris  did,  whose  highly 
intelligent  mind  and  indomitable  will  gave  him  the 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  153 

leading  place  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  pastor;  and  in  some  measure  controlled 
his  actions  in  the  rulings  incumbent  in  his  office. 
Step  by  step  he  seemed  to  gain  ascendency  in  this 
direction ;  and  not  always  using  the  power  with  due 
propriety,  and  with  that  special  regard  for  the  glory 
of  God,  but  mere  purpose  of  exhibiting  his  personal 
strength  and  influence,  while  most  of  his  brethren  in 
the  church  and  in  the  deaconship  with  him,  having 
less  mental  ability  and  business  qualities,  yet  being 
more  kind  and  considerate  of  the  Christian  needs  of 
the  members,  bore  more  weight  with  the  majority 
of  them.  In  the  conference  meetings  for  the  disci- 
plining of  members,  or  devising  ways  and  means  for 
the  progress  of  the  church,  using  his  superior  powers 
of  debating, — tenacious  of  his  views,  not  always  the 
best,  most  beneficial  or  agreeable, — there  naturally 
arose  such  a  degree  of  friction  between  himself  and 
colleagues  in  office  that  his  best  help  became  irksome 
to  the  most  of  them.  Brother  Harris  as  a  man 
seemed  to  be  compounded  of  some  opposite  natural 
qualities.  Physically,  like  Mr.  Johnson,  he  was  above 
the  medium,  tall  and  commanding  in  appearance  as 
he  moved,  finely  developed  head,  and  well-cut,  regu- 
lar facial  features,  large,  full  eyes,  roundly-turned 
chin,  medium  large  mouth  and  clear  voice.  Yet 
his   natural   manner  and  way  of  acting   were   pecu- 


154     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

liarly  repulsive.  Quick  of  perception,  deep  thinkiug, 
having  an  impediment  of  speech,  his  delivery  be- 
came difiBcult,  and  naturally,  when  opposed,  irritable 
and  pugnacious  in  a  moral  sense,  but  quickly  affable 
when  in  concord  with.  Thus,  like  the  traveller  on 
the  road,  the  fierce  blinding  wind  and  storm  made 
him  hold  the  more  tightly  his  cloak ;  and  it  is  the 
warm,  bright  genial  sun  that  makes  him  lay  it  off. 
So  to  his  brethren  he  became  powerful  but  unpopular. 
Wise  and  wilful  but  unlovable  by  the  people,  he  was 
most  interested  in  as  a  public  servant  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  His  brethren  feared  him  more 
than  they  respected  him,  and  in  the  church  often 
yielded  to  his  opinions  because  they  feared  his  power ; 
and  therefore  with  a  view  to  harmony  in  their 
council,  they  invited  or  requested  him  to  exercise 
his  gifts  in  a  different  part  of  the  work,  by  licensing 
him  to  preach. 

The  church  had  connected  by  membership  branches 
in  the  country  among  her  scattered  members,  located 
upon  St.  Catharine  and  Skidaway  Islands ;  and  a  part 
of  the  members  of  the  Great  Ogeechee  church,  which 
had  become  much  demoralized  by  the  war,  she 
sheltered  under  her  watchful  care,  and  fed  them  at 
stated  times  with  the  Bread  of  life  at  a  plantation 
called  Woodstock,  where  Brother  Harris  had  cus- 
tomarily attended  them  with  the  word,  at  least  once 


IN  NORTH   AMERICA.  I55 

each  montli.  It  was  upon  a  Sabbath  day  of  one  of 
these  visits,  and  he  absent,  that  the  church  in  con- 
ference removed  him  from  the  deaconship,  passed  the 
resohition  inviting  him  to  preach ;  against  which  act, 
upon  learning,  he  strongly  protested ;  proclaiming  that 
he  never  had  said  to  any  one  that  he  felt  called  on 
to  preach,  and  the  church  by  his  request  rescinded 
her  actions  and  restored  him  to  the  deaconship. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  with  the  several 
objectionable  features  of  this  brother's  character  and 
naanner  he  had  neither  admirers  nor  followers.  In 
certain  secular  contingencies  that  had  arisen  in  the 
church  some  of  the  very  qualities  he  possessed  seemed' 
both  necessary  and  desirable,  and  with  men  of  intel- 
lectual equality  and  distinction  would  be  admired 
and  respected ;  and  in  the  church  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  those  who  had  been  reared  up  from  childhood 
under  the  care  and  Christian  teachings  of  Mr.  Johnson, 
and  whose  parents  had  been  his  stanchest  supporters 
in  the  earlier  days  of  the  church,  that  saw  in  this 
brother  his  prototype  and  successor,  and  were  prepared 
at  all  times  to  be  guided  and  controlled  by  his  advice, 
and  therefore  stood  by  and  supported  him.  With 
this  class  of  followers,  and  a  few  others  whom  he 
bound  to  himself  by  particular  or  personal  services 
rendered,  and  who  felt  obligated  to  him,  he  attempted, 
in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  to  usurp  his  place. 


156     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  conspiracy  seemed  to  have  begun  soon  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  Association,  which  met  at 
Graham ville  in  July,  1870,  and  while  the  pastor  was 
still  at  Atlanta,  in  attendance  as  a  legislator  of  the 
State.  The  custom  of  the  church  at  this  time  was  to 
call  their  pastor  yearly,  and  as  his  term  would  ex- 
pire in  a  short  while,  and  his  term  of  office  in  the 
State  Assembly  expired  nearly  about  the  same  time, 
he  had  stood  for  re-election,  received  the  nomination 
from  his  constituents  of  Bryan  County,  and  was 
busily  engaged  in  the  canvass  of  county  and  State. 
Mr.  Harris,  seeing  this,  made  a  pretext  for  advising 
the  church  not  to  recall  him  the  next  year,  as  his 
service  to  the  people  in  their  political  interest  was 
such  that  they  must  make  the  sacrifice  and  do  with- 
out him.  However,  the  officers  felt  that  the  pastor 
should  not  stand  for  re-election,  because  while  in  the 
legislature  they  found  it  very  difficult  to  fill  his 
place  on  communion  days,  as  he  was  away;  but  he 
persuaded  the  church  that,  should  he  return,  the 
period  of  the  term  would  be  short,  as  they  by  law 
could  sit  only  forty  days.  Deacon  Harris  insisted 
that  the  pastor  could  not  tell  anything  about  that,  as 
the  body  could  change  the  law,  and  that  he  ought 
not  to  go,  and  if  he  went  the  church  ought  not  to 
recall  him.  Houston's  reply  to  this  was  that  he  was 
again   nominated   by    his    constituents,   and    nothing 


7JV  NORTH  AMERICA.  I57 

would  keep  him  from  going  but  defeat  at  the  polls. 
Thus,  when  he  went  into  the  canvass  determined  to  be 
re-elected,  he  left  the  deacon  determined  to  defeat  his 
recall ;  and  he  had  the  decided  advantage  in  the 
argument  made  against  the  pastor's  running  for  the 
political  office,  as  he  could  show  the  need  of  the 
pastor's  presence  at  home,  so  that  when  he  was  absent 
after  this  argument  before  the  people,  he  picked  the 
favorable  opportunity,  and  got  a  resolution  passed  not 
to  recall  him. 

The  church  had  reported  this  year  a  membership  of 
five  hundred  and  eighty-three,  two-thirds  of  whom 
resided  in  the  city  and  generally  attended  conference 
at  the  time.  Those  present  at  the  conference,  April 
15,  1871,  vary  in  the  estimate  of  the  number  present, 
but  all  agree  that  there  were  not  less  than  between  one 
hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hundred.  Brother  Harris 
in  the  chair,  the  church  proceeded  to  elect  a  pastor. 
Revs.  Andrew  Neyle,  David  Watters  himself,  and 
Brother  J.  S.  Habersham,  were  nominated.  A  brother 
arose  and  nominated  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston.  The  chair 
stated  that  the  nomination  was  out  of  order  and  could 
not  be  entertained.  The  brother  persisting  in  his  pur- 
pose to  nominate  Mr.  Houston,  and  being  seconded  by 
several  brethren.  Brother  Harris  called  Rev  Mr.  Neyle 
to  the  chair,  and  proceeded  in  a  very  boisterous  manner 
to  show  that  they  could  not  use  that  name ;  and  it  was 
8 


158     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

disorderly,  because  they  had  at  a  previous  conference 
resolved  by  vote  that  they  would  not  recall  Houston. 
After  silencing  the  parties  completely,  without  any 
allusion  to  the  right  of  the  body  to  reconsider  the  pre- 
vious vote  he  alluded  to,  and  knowing  their  ignorance 
of  usual  parliamentary  usages,  those  who  understood 
it  somewhat  seemed  to  be  with  him,  he  resumed  the 
chair  and  took  the  vote  on  the  four  already  nominated, 
which,  when  called  to  rise  and  stand  until  counted, 
stood:  Neyle,  15;  Watters,  15;  Harris,  34;  Haber- 
sham, 1 6.  We  do  not  vouch  for  the  perfect  correctness 
of  these  figures,  but  are  sure  they  are  a  close  approxi- 
mation. This  vote  was  in  the  aggregate  cast  for  the 
four  candidates  nominated,  only  about  half  of  the  mem- 
bers being  present,  the  others  not  voting  because  they 
desired  to  vote  for  Mr.  Houston,  and  urgently  expressed 
themselves  to  that  effect.  But  the  chair  positively 
refused  to  permit  an  expression  of  their  choice  by  vote, 
and  declared  himself  duly  elected,  having  received  the 
largest  plurality  of  the  votes  cast,  and  thus  became 
elected  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  of  five  hundred  and 
eighty-three  members,  about  two  hundred  being  present, 
and  receiving  only  thirty-four  votes  of  the  whole. 
The  meeting  adjourned  with  a  general  murmuring  of 
dissatisfaction,  many  expressing  the  determination  that 
the  said  election  should  not  stand ;  but  a  majority  of 
the  members,  with  Christian  meekness  and  patience. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  159 

bore  tlie  injustice.  The  bold  action  of  the  man  seemed 
to  paralyze  the  church  and  the  deacons  who  had  not 
joined  in  tlie  conspiracy  with  him.  Some  of  tliem,  not 
feeling  competent  to  act  in  the  matter,  sought  counsel  of 
brethren  of  other  churches  no  stronger  than  themselves, 
and  who  endeavored  to  act  as  arbitrators,  but  with 
no  success ;  all  appeals  for  Christian  fairness  availed 
nothing;  this  brother's  mind  seemed  made  up  to  a 
purpose  that  he  would  not  desist  from.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  he  gathered  together  a  council  of  brethren 
weak  enough  to  suit  the  purpose,  used  the  name  of  the 
church  in  calling  them  to  act  as  an  ordaining  presbytery, 
had  himself  ordained,  had  himself  and  the  clerk  of  the 
church  appointed  delegates  to  the  Association,  and  ap- 
peared there  July  14,  1871,  as  pastor  of  the  church.* 

Mr.  Houston,  having  failed  of  re-election  to  the 
legislature  for  another  term,  and  having  timidly  re- 
mained away  from  his  post  of  duty  to  a  people  who 
really  loved  him,  with  the  few  exceptions  stated,  find- 
ing his  place  now  usurped,  went  to  the  aid  of  a  Baptist 
people  who  were  put  out  from  the  white  brethren  of  a 
church  in  Liberty  County.  He  organized  them  under 
a  bush  arbor  as  the  Zion  Baptist  Church  of  Liberty 
County  (now  a  large  and  flourishing  church),  and  also 
went  to  the  Association  meeting  at  Brunswick,  Georgia, 

*  Minutes  of  Zion  Baptist  Association,  1871,  pages  5,  6,  7,  11, 
16,  17,  25. 


160     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

representing  it  as  pastor,  and  applying  for  recognition 
and  membership ;  but  claiming  also  by  letter  to  rep- 
resent a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  First  Bryan 
Baptist  Church,  with  Deacon  William  Green  as  asso- 
ciate. When  tlie  question  of  the  contesting  delega- 
tions came  up,  the  Association,  after  considerable  de- 
bate, laid  the  question  on  the  table  the  first  day,  because 
of  this  vexed  question  retarding  the  business.  They 
took  it  from  the  table  on  the  fourth-day  morning,  and 
debated  it  until  the  hour  of  adjournment.  The  subject 
was  resumed  in  the  afternoon,  then,  and  decided  by  a 
vote  of  twenty  to  eleven  that  "  the  letter  from  the 
First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  borne  by  Rev.  A.  Harris, 
was  the  legal  letter  of  that  church,  and  must  be  re- 
ceived," and,  as  it  seems,  to  soften  somewhat  the 
glaring  wrong  which  they  felt  was  perpetrated  upon 
that  people,  passed  this  resolution  : 

^^  Resolved,  That  we  as  an  Association  sympathize 
with  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  First  Bryan 
Baptist  Church  of  Savannah.  But  as  it  is  out  of  our 
power  to  interfere  with  the  internal  affairs  of  indi- 
vidual churches,  we  would  recommend  that  they  en- 
deavor to  reconcile  affairs  within  themselves.  And  the 
clerk  be  instructed  to  forward  by  the  hand  of  Brother 
William  Green  a  copy  of  this  resolution,  with  the 
regrets  of  this  body  that  such  should  have  occurred." 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  IGl 

It  is  not  very  clear  Avliat  is  meant  by  "  such  should 
have  occurred"  whether  it  be  wiiat  Brother  Harris  did 
towards  the  majority  of  the  church,  what  they  did  in 
receiving  the  usurping  delegation,  the  impudent  actions 
of  the  brother  in  that  body,  or  that  this  old  mother 
church  should  be  suffering  as  she  then  was  again  a 
second  time.  We  suppose  the  latter;  but  the  peculiar 
and  indefinite  wording  of  the  resolution,  especially  the 
closing  sentence,  would  cover  any  or  all  of  those  points. 
But  the  sharpness  of  the  third  will  be  better  seen  in 
his  having  himself  appointed  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  nominations  for  next  session  by  offering  the 
motion  to  appoint  them.  Three  other  very  weak 
brethren  were  appointed  upon  that  committee  with 
him,  one  only  of  whom  could  not  be  controlled  by  him, 
who  reported  back  his  own  name  to  preach  the  intro- 
ductory sermon. 

The  statistical  report  made  that  year  read  as  follows 
(and  we  su])pose  is  correct,  as  the  figures  must  have 
beeu  taken  from  the  books  by  the  clerk,  who  was  also 
one  of  the  delegates) :  baptized,  65 ;  received  by  letter, 
8;  restored,  22;  dismissed,  2;  expelled,  13;  dropped, 
13  ;  membership,  427.  Twenty  days  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  Association,  on  the  7th  of  August,  Mr. 
Harris  presented  to  a  called  meeting  of  the  church  a 
committee  from  a  council  of  ministering  brethren,  held 
in  the  Savannah  Baptist  Church, — Rev.  Farley  Sweat 


162     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

(white),  Rev.  W.  J.  Campbell  (colored).  The  former 
read  the  decision  of  the  Council,  made  upon  the  ex 
parte  statement  of  Harris  and  his  friends.  "  The  de- 
cision declared  Mr.  Harris  elected  pastor  of  the  church 
by  the  silence  of  the  majority,  who  did  not  vote  be- 
cause he  (Mr.  Harris)  would  not  let  them  vote  as  they 
pleased,  or  as  an  honest  Christian  brother  in  the  chair 
should,  whose  duty  it  is  to  regulate  the  debates  and 
facilitate  the  business  of  the  conference,  especially  upon 
so  sacred  a  duty  as  the  calling  of  a  pastor."* 

After  reading  the  report  Brother  Sweat  asked  what 
action  should  be  taken  upon  it,  and  it  was  moved, 
seconded,  and  unanimously  voted  that  it  be  received. 
It  was  theu  immediately  moved  and  seconded  also  that 
it  be  adopted,  but  that  vote  was  largely  in  the  nega- 
tive, showing  the  church's  respect  for  the  brethren  of 
the  council  and  committee  but  not  for  their  opinions 
upon  this  case.  What  the  Church  bound  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  is  the  promise  of  the  gospel, 
not  what  a  small  faction  of  the  Church  and  an  ex 
parte  council  did.  The  true  body  of  that  Church 
present  on  that  evening  showed  by  their  action  then 
and  there  that  their  eyes  had  become  opened  and  that 
they  had  not  thus  bound  themselves,  though  seemingly 
bound,  and  trusted  God  to  loose  them  if  they  were. 

*3Iinutes  of  the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  August  27,  1871. 


REV.   JAMES    M.    81MMS. 


Page  1(5; 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  163 

Brother  Campbell,  of  the  committee,  then  made  some 
persuasiv^e  remarks,  which  the  church  heard  with  re- 
spectful silence.  Seeing  he  could  do  nothing,  Mr. 
Harris  then  sang  the  Doxology ;  and  before  he  could 
declare  the  meeting  dismissed.  Deacon  William  Green 
requested  the  members  to  remain,  when,  on  motion, 
the  church  resolved  itself  into  a  conference  and  called 
Brother  Green  to  the  chair,  who,  after  leading  in 
prayer,  asked  what  should  be  done,  seeing  the  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  report.  On  motion  it  was  re- 
solved that  as  the  committee  of  that  council  simply 
gave  their  decision, — which  was  respectfully  heard  and 
differed  with  by  so  large  a  body  of  the  members, — 
they  should  have  inquired  tiie  reason  for  their  refusal 
to  adopt  it ;  as  they  did  not,  that  no  more  notice  be 
taken  of  it.  On  motion  they  restored  to  his  rights 
Brother  J.  S.  Habersham,  whom  Mr.  Harris  had  i«i- 
peached.  Also,  on  motion,  and  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
two  of  the  three  living  trustees — namely  Alexander 
Harris  and  Daniel  Butler — were  removed,  and  Brother 
Quives  Frazer,  Revs.  J.  M.  Simms  and  David  Watters 
were  elected,  and  the  conference  adjourned.  Thus  the 
proceedings  of  opposition,  commenced  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Association  for  the  first  time  after  the  usurpa- 
tion, were  resumed  here  as  an  irrepressible  conflict  be- 
tween right  and  wrong  in  the  church. 


164     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 


CHAPTER    X. 

Sabbath  morning,  July  27,  the  church  met  and 
took  steps  to  protest  against  the  action  of  Brother 
Harris  and  others  in  locking  the  doors  of  the  church 
against  them,  and  against  his  entering  their  pulpit 
without  their  consent  or  permission.  On  motion,  it 
was  resolved  that,  if  he  made  the  attempt  to  preach 
on  that  Sabbath,  Deacon  Williatn  Green  be  instructed 
to  rise  in  his  seat  and  respectfully  say  to  Brother 
Harris  that  the  church  protests  against  his  entering 
their  pulpit,  as  he  is  not  their  pastor;  that  he  should 
repeat  the  expression  three  times  in  a  peaceable  manner, 
and  then  sit  down  quietly  until  after  the  church  ser- 
vfce  was  over.  He  did  precisely  as  he  was  directed 
by  the  church  in  conference.  Harris  paid  no  atten- 
tion, but  conducted  the  usual  service,  a  large  majority 
of  the  members  present  taking  no  part,  though  quietly 
sitting,  only  the  few  followers  of  Mr.  Harris  joining 
him  in  the  singing,  etc.  As  soon  as  he  had  pro- 
nounced the  benediction  and  had  come  down  from  the 
pulpit.  Deacon  Green,  as  instructed,  requested  the 
members  to  remain  in  their  seats.  He  was  called  to 
the  chair  by  vote,  and  Brother  J.  S.  Habersham  was 
requested   to  act  as  secretary.      After  resolving   the 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  Ig5 

meeting  into  a  conference,  on  motion,  the  action  of 
Brother  Harris  and  those  officers  concerned  in  closing 
up  the  doors  of  the  church-building  was  condemned, 
and  they  were  also  suspended  from  their  office. 

The  letters  of  acceptance  from  the  new  trustees- elect 
were  read  and  received,  and  they  were  subsequently 
requested  to  take  such  steps  as  were  necessary  to  re- 
cover and  protect  the  church  property.  It  was  also 
resolved  at  tiiis  meeting  that  the  regular  communion 
services,  which  should  have  taken  place  that  day,  be 
suspended  until  the  church  settles  her  present  difficulty 
and  is  again  at  peace.  The  conference  adjourned  to 
meet  at  the  next  regular  conference,  on  the  third 
Sunday  in  September. 

On  Monday,  the  28th,  after  the  foregoing,  Harris 
placed  Green  upon  the  information  docket  of  the  city, 
charged  with  a  violation  of  law,  by  disturbing  tiie 
public  services  of  his  church.  He  (Green)  was  cited 
to  appear  on  Wednesday  the  30th,  and  so  did, — Harris 
and  some  others  appearing  against  him  before  the 
mayor,  and  Green,  by  counsel,  requested  a  postpone- 
ment until  the  next  Friday.  On  that  day,  the  case 
being  up,  counsel  for  Green  pleaded  want  of  jurisdic- 
tion for  the  crime  charged,  it  being  a  misdemeanor 
punishable  only  by  the  State  courts,  and,  on  motion  of 
his  counsel,  the  mayor  dismissed  the  case.  On  Wednes- 
day evening,  the  30th,  in  which  the  case  of  Brother 


1(36     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Green  was  before  the  court,  the  church  held  a  called 
conference  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  Second  African 
Church,  by  permission.  Brother  Green  was  called  to 
the  chair.  After  stating  the  object  of  the  call,  it  was 
resolved  to  provide  funds  by  a  collection  for  feeing 
the  lawyers  who  were  to  defend  Brother  Green.  The 
letter  of  acceptance  of  Brother  James  M.  Simms,  as 
one  of  the  trustees,  was  received,  read,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  call  upon  Brother  A.  Harris 
and  request  him  to  deliver  up  the  keys  of  the  church- 
building,  who  reported  that  they  had  so  done,  and  that 
he  refused  to  surrender  them.  The  members  present  at 
this  meeting  were  counted,  and  numbered  one  hundred. 
While  the  case  of  Brother  W.  Green  was  being 
tried,  on  the  following  Friday,  the  trustees  took  in 
charge  the  church-building  by  having  a  new  set  of 
locks  put  on,  and  held  the  keys  in  their  possession 
for  the  church,  and  subsequently  applied  to  the  judge 
of  the  Superior  Court  to  enjoin  Brother  Harris  from 
interfering  with  the  church  or  entering  the  church- 
building  until  he  should  show  his  right  as  the  pastor. 
It  so  happened  that  the  judge  was  upon  the  eve  of 
leaving  the  State,  upon  a  summer  vacation,  at  the  time 
of  granting  the  writ,  and,  the  sheriff  not  serving  the 
same  until  after  his  departure,  there  was  no  remedy 
for  Brother  Harris  until  his  return,  it  seems,  as  the 
case  was  not  argued  until  the  following  November. 


TN  NORTH  AMERICA.  167 

During  the  interval  the  cliureh  was  in  peaceful  posses- 
sion of  tlie  building,  as  the  writ  enjoined  none 
but  Harris.  Yet  it  seems  that  the  parties  taking  sides 
with  him  never  entered  the  church  services,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  perhaps,  of  those  who  had  changed 
their  views  and  left  him  finally. 

The  church  met  in  extra  conference  on  September 
10,  1871,  calling  Brother  Quives  Frazer  to  the  chair, 
and  tlie  secretary-elect,  Edward  Wicks,  who  for  a 
time  seemed  to  have  gone  over  to  the  Harris  party, 
being  present  at  this  conference,  made  some  explana- 
tion of  his  position  upon  the  questions  in  dispute, 
which  being  satisfactory,  on  motion,  he  was  permitted 
to  resume  his  place. 

The  branch  of  the  church  at  Woodstock  sent  a 
letter,  asking  the  privilege  of  withdrawing  themselves, 
as  they  intended  to  reorganize  the  Great  Ogeechee 
body.  On  motion,  their  request  was  granted.  On 
motion,  Brethren  Wm.  Green  and  Edward  Wicks 
were  set  apart  for  ordination  as  deacons  of  this  church 
on  the  14th  inst.,  and  that  the  day  be  observed  as  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  A  committee,  composed 
of  the  two  last-named  brethren,  was  sent  to  call  upon 
Sister  Sarah  Harrison,  where  the  vessels  and  linen  used 
in  the  communion  service  w^ere  kept,  and  requested 
that  she  deliver  them  to  the  church.  Her  house 
had   been   the   depository   of    them   for   some  years. 


168     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  wine-pitchers,  cups,  and  bread-baskets  were  of 
silver,  with  the  name  of  the  church  engraved  upon 
them.     They  have  never  been  found. 

The  church  met  on  the  14th,  pursuant  to  her  ad- 
journment on  the  10th.  Rev.  Andrew  Neyle  was  called 
to  the  chair,  and  three  additional  brethren  (A.  Denslow, 
P.  Jackson,  and  G.  B.  Lewis)  were  set  apart  to  the 
deaconship,  having  received  the  highest  number  of 
votes  among  six  brethren  nominated  for  the  office ;  and 
agreeably  to  the  resolution  of  the  10th,  Brethren  Green 
and  Wicks  were  solemnly  ordained  the  same  evening. 

The  church  also  in  regular  conference,  on  the  17th 
of  September,  adopted  these  resolutions : 

"  Whereas,  Brother  Alexander  Harris  has  as  a 
member  of  this  church  assumed  powers  not  delegated 
to  him  and  unwarranted  as  a  deacon,  and  by  such 
assumption  has  inflicted  great  evils  upon  this  church, 
he  procuring  by  false  representation  his  ordination  to 
the  gospel  ministry,  attempting  to  preside  as  the  pastor 
of  this  church  against  the  wishes  and  the  protestation 
of  two-thirds  of  its  members. 

^^  Secondly,  Making  false  reports  to  the  authorities 
of  the  city  relative  to  the  good  order  of  the  church, 
and  bringing  police-officers  within  the  grounds  to 
intimidate  us  from  the  enjoyment  of  our  corporate  and 
spiritual  privileges,  and  closing  the  doors  of  the  house 
of  God  against  us  for  three  weeks,  bringing  reproach 
upon  us  as  a  Christian  body,  by  indicting  in  the  police- 


JN  NORTH  AMERICA.  IQC) 

court  of  the  city  our  brother,  William  Green,  whom 
the  church  has  appointed  to  tlie  deaconship,  and  elected 
as  its  chairman  to  preside  during  her  business  confer- 
ences, and  for  other  purposes,  and  whom  they  had  em- 
powered to  protest  against  the  illegal  and  irregular  acts 
of  Brother  Harris. 

"  Thirdly,  And  whereas  this  church  on  Sabbath, 
the  3d  of  September,  1871,  met  in  solemn  conference, 
and  cited  Brother  A.  Harris,  who  was  then  present,  to 
answer  for  his  unlawful  actions,  yet  he,  in  the  spirit  of 
arrogance  and  contempt,  ignored  the  authority  of  the 
church,  and  left  the  house  and  his  brethren  who  de- 
sired, in  the  spirit  of  forbearance,  to  admonish  him  to 
heed  their  counsel. 

"And  whereas.  This  church  conceived  it  her  duty 
to  so  far  admonish  Brother  Harris,  inflict  the  censure 
of  suspension  from  his  privileges  in  this  church  until 
he  should  reflect  and  repent  of  his  actions,  and  notified 
him  of  this  fact,  and  he,  in  a  total  disregard  of  this 
action  of  the  church,  met  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day  and  essayed  to  officiate  in  and  administer  to  a  few 
of  his  followers  the  holy  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, which  act  we  feel  was  highly  improper,  if  not 
sacrilegious ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  this  church  do  hereby  declare  that 
all  these  several  acts  herein  cited  are  highly  improper, 
wrong,  and  sinful  in  our  brother,  A.  Harris,  and  not 
prompted  by  the  spirit  that  should  characterize  a 
Christian  member  of  the  church  ;  and  for  such  actions 
we  do  declare  Brother  Alexander  Harris  expelled  from 
our  membership,  praying  his  repentance  and  return. 


170     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

^'Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  admonish  those  of 
our  brethren  and  sisters,  members  of  this  church,  who 
have  by  the  ill  advice  of  Brother  A.  Harris  lent  their 
aid  to  these  illegal  acts  of  his,  to  depart  from  their 
errors  and  return  to  their  covenant  relations  and  duties 
of  the  church  on  pain  of  expulsion  for  a  failure  so  to 
do ;  and  the  deacons,  acting  in  their  capacity  as  such, 
are  requested  to  seek  out  such  of  our  members,  and,  in 
the  spirit  of  Christian  forbearance  and  brotherly  love, 
notify  them  of  the  consequences  should  they  neglect 
to  comply  with  these  requirements  after  hearing  the 
reading  of  these  resolutions."* 

These  resolutions  were  unanimously  passed  in  the 
conference;  and  by  resolution  Brother  E.  Wicks  and 
Sister  Elizabeth  Edy  were  requested  to  resume  the 
work  of  the  Sabbath-school,  which  had  been  sus- 
pended since  these  difficulties  began.  At  the  confer- 
ence of  October  15,  Brother  William  Rivers,  one  of 
the  deacons,  who  was  among  the  followers  of  Mr. 
Harris,  returned,  gave  due  satisfaction,  and  was  re- 
stored to  all  of  his  privileges  as  a  member  and  deacon ; 
and  at  that  of  November  19,  a  letter  was  received  from 
the  Woodstock  branch,  notifying  the  church  that  they 
had  become  organized  as  a  sister  church,  under  the  old 
title  of  the  Ogeechee  Baptist  Church.  At  an  extra 
conference,  held  on  the  19th  of  December,  it  was 
voted  that  the  last  Sabbath  in  the  mouth,  being  the 

*  Minutes  of  the  church,  September  17,  1871. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  171 

31st,  be  set  apart  as  the  day  for  calling  a  pastor  by- 
fasting  and  praying  through  the  day.  The  church 
met  in  extra  conference  on  the  28th,  and  unanimously 
reconsidered  the  vote  she  passed  in  March,  declaring 
that  she  would  not  recall  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  and  on 
the  afternoon  of  December  31,  he  was  recalled  to  the 
pastorate  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four.  It  was  also  resolved  that  the  time  of 
service  be  not  specified,  but  that  he  remain  as  pastor 
as  long  as  agreeable  to  himself  and  the  church. 

With  this  recall  the  pastor  re-entered  upon  his  duties 
with  the  year  1872.  During  all  the  conflict  he  was 
absent,  serving  the  churches  lately  organized  by  him, — 
one  at  North  Newport,  Liberty  County ;  the  other  near 
the  Great  Ogeechee,  in  Chatham  County.  The  first  is 
known  as  the  Zion  and  the  latter  the  Ogeechee ;  both 
of  which  are  still  thriving,  prosperous  bodies,  with 
commodious  and  neat  grounds  and  buildings  for  country 
churches. 

At  the  regular  church  conference,  held  January  21, 
1872,  Brother  J.  M.  Simms,  one  of  the  lately-elected 
trustees,  was  received  as  a  member  of  this  church  by 
letter  from  the  First  African  Baptist  Church  of  this 
city.  He  Iiad  been  a  member  of  that  church  from 
early  youth,  and  gave  her  much  service  in  his  more 
mature  manhood.  He  had  been  clerk  of  the  church 
from  1858,  and  also  acted  as  deacon  until  1863,  when 


172     '^IJE   FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

he  was  licensed  by  the  church  to  preach.  He  was 
master-builder  in  the  erection  of  her  new  brick  edifice, 
and  organized  the  Sabbath-school  of  the  church,  she 
having  had  none  from  the  separation  from  this  body,  in 
1832.  Born  and  reared  in  Savannah,  Brother  Sirams 
was  well  known  to  all,  and,  like  the  pastor  of  the  church, 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  seeking  to  secure  the  polit- 
ical rights  of  his  people.  He  was  also  elected  to  the 
Georgia  Legislature,  and  served  during  the  same  term 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Houston ;  thus  they  were  intimate  in 
their  relations.  He  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  by  the  Twelfth  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  Mas- 
sachusetts, while  sojourning  there  during  the  late  war, 
and  returned  to  his  church  at  its  close,  in  1865.  But, 
his  church  taking  offence  at  his  becoming  ordained  in 
his  absence  from  her,  he  fell  under  disfavor  in  the 
body  through  the  influence  of  the  pastor.  Rev.  W.  J. 
Campbell ;  and  thus  took  his  letter  and  removed  back 
to  this  old  church,  whose  roof  sheltered  him  when 
Mr.  Marshall  was  its  pastor,  and  in  whose  Sunday- 
school  he  received  his  earliest  religious  teachings.  The 
church,  on  receiving  him  into  membership,  passed  a 
resolution  recognizing  his  office  as  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  and  welcoming  him  to  her  pulpit,  and  he  at  once 
became  a  timely  auxiliary  to  the  church  and  pastor. 

The  church  in  extra  conference,  on  February  11  of 
this  year,  took  measures  looking  to  a  reconciliation  with 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  173 

all  of  her  revolting  members,  if  possible,  and  so  ap- 
pointed committees  to  call  upon  them  and  endeavor  to 
bring  the  same  about.  Her  communicants  had  been 
suspended  on  account  of  the  disturbances  arising  out 
of  the  usurpation  of  the  church's  powers  and  preroga- 
tives by  ambitious  brethren  and  their  deluded  follow- 
ers ;  and  the  church  was  continuously  in  a  feverish  state 
of  excitement,  with  the  feeling  then  existing,  and 
which  had  existed  for  several  months,  and  now  some 
of  the  more  conservative  suggested  the  calling  together 
of  all  of  the  male  members  of  the  church,  without 
reference  to  what  had  been  done,  and  consult  in  order 
to  harmonize. 

The  meeting  was  held  February  22,  in  the  lecture- 
room  of  this  church.  There  was  considerable  argu- 
ment before  a  chairman  was  selected,  each  wing  of  the 
division  desiring  to  have  the  honor  of  presiding,  feel- 
ing they  had  the  right;  one  side  by  virtue  of  being 
the  majority,  with  the  rightful  pastor,  and  the  other 
claiming  they  were  the  church  by  virtue  of  the  recog- 
nition of  Mr.  Harris  as  the  pastor  by  tiie  Association, 
and  a  council  of  ministers.  They  finally  submitted 
the  question  to  a  vote,  and  Brother  Q.  Frazer  was 
elected  the  chairman,  he  being  with  the  majority  and 
one  of  the  oldest  trustees,  but  a  mild,  conservative 
Christian  brother,  in  whom  all  had  much  confidence. 
As  a  basis  of  settlement  it  was  insisted  upon  that  the 


174     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

meeting  should  decide  wlio  was  the  church  and  on 
which  side  was  its  power  and  authority.  It  was 
resolved  that  the  church  was  in  itself  the  sovereign 
power,  and  independent  of  all  other  powers  in  her 
spiritual  affairs,  subject  only  to  Christ,  and  that  in  a 
Baptist  church  the  majority  of  the  members,  in  any 
matters  of  the  church  rules,  must  be  obeyed,  and  what 
they  do  must  be  sustained,  and  that  we  so  recommend 
to  the  church.  When  this  resolution  passed,  the  party 
with  Mr.  Harris  walked  out  of  the  meeting,  and  the 
effort  at  reconciliation  became  a  failure.  The  report  of 
this  meeting  was  submitted  to  the  church  in  her  con- 
ference, and  was  received  and  adopted  March  3,  1872. 
The  trustees  reported  also  at  this  meeting  that  they  had 
called  upon  Brother  Harris,  informed  him  of  their 
appointment,  and  desired  him  to  deliver  to  them  any 
books,  papers,  ob-  other  property  he  held  belonging  to 
the  church,  and  that  he  declined  either  to  recognize 
their  authority  or  to  surrender  what  he  held  until  he 
should  see  further  into  the  matter.  At  this  conference 
two  more  of  Brother  Harris's  most  violent  partisans, 
namely,  Isaac  Butler  and  Edward  Harden,  were  ex- 
pelled for  gross  and  improper  temper  and  language 
in  the  meetings  of  the  church ;  also  at  the  same 
meeting  Brother  John  Williams,  under  watch-care,  and 
licensed  to  preach  by  this  church,  was  dropped  from 
her  fellowship,  and  his  license  was  revoked. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  175 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  September,  1871,  the 
newly-elected  trustees  procured  an  injunction,  restrain- 
ing Brother  Harris  from  interfering  with  the  rights  of 
the  church,  as  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter.  On  the 
14th  of  this  month  (March)  he  with  counsel  appeared 
before  the  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  that  granted  the 
Trustees  the  injunction,  and  it  appears  that  they  satisfied 
his  Honor  of  liis  election  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church. 
Neither  the  trustees  nor  any  one  on  the  part  of  the 
majority  having  received  notice  to  appear,  however,  his 
Honor  the  judge  dissolved  the  injunction  granted  in 
September  last,  and  granted  Harris  a  temporary  in- 
junction against  the  Trustees. 

The  church  resolved  to  set  apart  Sunday,  the  18th,  as 
a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  not  knowing 
the  deep  trial  and  sorrow  she  would  be  called  to  pass 
through  on  that  day.  The  morning  opened  clear  and 
beautiful,  and  at  early  dawn  the  members  met  and 
opened  their  meeting  with  singing  and  prayer,  led  by 
the  several  official  and  lay  brethren  ;  and  so  continued 
until  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  day,  when,  to  the 
surprise  of  all.  Brother  Harris,  who  had  not  been  in 
that  house  for  more  than  six  months,  entered  the 
eastern  front  door,  stately  walked  up  the  aisle,  fol- 
lowed by  about  twenty  odd  of  his  adherents,  who, 
as  he  stepped  into  the  pulpit,  took  seats  in  the  pews, 
grouping  together  as  closely  as  it  was  convenient  for 


176     ^^-^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

them.  Mr.  Harris  sat  down  in  the  pulpit,  his  large, 
full  eyes  gleaming  with  defiance  as  he  glanced  over 
the  assembly;  his  face,  rigid  with  resolve,  and  lips 
compressed  together,  indicative  of  a  firm  determi- 
nation, seemed  to  paralyze  the  church  for  a  few 
minutes;  but  as  he  arose,  hymn-book  in  hand,  to 
announce  the  number  and  recite  the  stanzas,  the  death- 
like stillness  of  the  moment  was  broken  by  a  brother 
sitting  in  the  front  pew  nearest  the  pulpit,  and  of 
course  nearest  the  speaker,  who  was  seized  with  a 
violent  fit  of  coughing.  This  in  itself  would  not  ap- 
pear strange  in  any  church  at  this  time,  but  it  in- 
stantly became  contagions,  and  soon  nearly  every  one 
in  the  house,  excepting  those  with  Mr.  Harris,  was 
violently  coughing,  so  that  when  the  little  flock  who 
followed  in  his  lead  raised  their  hymn  of  victory,  it 
was  really  like  the  chirping  of  birds  on  a  very  windy 
day  in  March,  and  could  not  be  heard ;  and,  as 
it  was  incessant,  the  thwarted  brother  in  the  pulpit 
beckoned  with  his  finger  to  the  tallest  deacon  he  had 
among  his  party,  William  Wasiiington,  who  left  the 
house  for  a  ^qsw  moments,  and  returned  with  a  city 
police-officer  as  tall  as  himself  (over  six  feet),  in  full 
uniform, — helmet,  red-top  boots,  and  large  brass  spurs, 
— armed  with  pistol  and  club  in  his  belt.  As  he 
stalked  into  the  church,  and  up  to  the  pulpit,  he  was 
saluted   with   this   strange  chorus   of  coughers,    who 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  177 

otherwise  sat  still  in  their  seats.  Mr.  Harris  leaned 
over  the  pulpit-rail  and  spoke  to  the  officer.  What  he 
said  of  course  was  not  known,  but  in  a  slight  lull  in  the 
chorus,  led  by  the  brother  in  the  front  pew,  who 
seemed  to  regulate  the  pitch  (now  down  to  a  "  pianis- 
simo," or  the  softest  tones),  the  officer  was  heard  to 
say,  as  he  gazed  around  and  his  eyes  rested  inquiringly 
upon  the  brother  in  the  front  pew,  "  I  see  nothing  dis- 
orderly, only  that  everybody  seems  to  have  a  bad 
cold ;"  and  witii  this  he  went  out  and  left  the  band 
which  had  entered  so  victoriously  half  an  hour  before 
quite  in  a  dilemma.  It  is  thought  that  the  officer,  fear- 
ing to  take  so  weighty  a  responsibility  upon  himself  at 
this  crisis,  referred  Harris  to  the  barracks  where  his 
chief  was.  He  left  a  few  moments  after  the  police- 
officer,  followed  by  his  members,  and  the  chilling  blast 
of  his  presence  being  removed,  the  coughing  ceased ;  the 
tempest  of  the  hearts  .in  the  church  was  stilled,  and 
the  legitimate  service  of  the  meeting  was  resumed,  and 
it  was  good  to  be  there  to  hear  the  Christians  then 
sing  and  pray. 

The  service  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  timely  and 
proper,  in  the  highest  sense,  on  this  occasion,  if 
ever,  for  the  church  was  even,  as  twice  before,  "  low 
down  in  the  valley  of  humiliation ;"  but  she  seemed 
to  remember  in  this  day  and  hour,  though  her  way 
was  dark,  that  sure  promise  of  her  God,  "  Call  unto 


178     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

me  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and  show  thee  great  and 
mighty  things,  lohich  thou  biowest  not;""^  and  surely 
it  was  to  be.  The  service  continued  without  the 
slightest  incident  to  mar  its  solemnity  during  the  after- 
noon, and  the  singing  and  praying  waxed  warmer  as 
the  sun  sank  in  the  western  horizon,  when  the  meeting 
closed  with  a  solemn-sounding  doxology,  as  it  is  the 
Baptists'  custom  to  sing  on  parting;  but  down  in 
the  vale  at  sunset  the  acclaim  was  solemn  and  low ; 
it  was  as  the  soft  bleating  of  the  sheep  instinctively 
feeling  the  coming  of  a  storm  at  night  when  the 
sun  goes  down  in  a  dark  cloud.  So,  as  they  sang  this 
doxology  and  received  the  parting  benediction,  with 
injunction  to  return  in  the  evening  after  they  had 
broken  their  fast,  they  separated. 

Although  the  late  service  was  calm  and  peaceful, 
the  brethren  had  their  misgivings  aroused  by  the 
quiet  leaving  of  Mr.  Harris  and  party.  The  pastor 
and  Trustee  Simms,  who  knew  Brother  Harris  well, 
counselled  together,  and  kept  a  careful  watch  for  what 
might  come,  believing  the  afternoon  calm  was  but  the 
precursor  of  the  coming  storm  ;  and  at  the  opening  of 
the  door  for  the  evening  service  were  present  in  their 
seats  upon  the  platform  fronting  below  the  pulpit,  one 
on  the  right  and  the  other  on  the  left  of  that  position. 

*  Jeremiah  xxxiii.  3. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  179 

The  seats  were  well  filled  with  the  members ;  and  the 
deacons  and  congregation  were  singing  a  spiritual  song 
(as  the  homely  compositions  are  called)  in  a  low  but 
sweetly  plaintive  tone — all  seemingly  as  calm  without 
as  one  could  wish  it  to  be  (nature  seemed  to  be 
engaged  in  the  scene  that  was  about  to  be  enacted,  as 
the  day  was  fair  until  the  sun  went  down,  and  just  at 
this  hour  it  clouded  up) — when  Mr.  Harris  entered  the 
church  again,  as  in  the  morning,  only  with  but  few 
of  his  followers.  As  he  was  about  half  way  up  the 
aisle,  between  the  door  and  the  desk,  a  police  sergeant 
stepped  inside  the  door  and  stood  looking  at  him  as 
he  mounted  the  steps  of  the  pulpit.  As  he  stepped 
in,  a  trustee  arose  from  his  seat  and  in  tones  of  stern 
reproof  exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Harris,  in  the  name  of  this 
church  I  protest  against  this  usurpation,"  or  nearly 
in  those  words,  and  the  pastor  arose  also  almost 
simultaneously,  and  said,  in  a  voice  deep  with  feeling, 
"  Yes,  and  I,  in  the  name  of  God,  protest."  While  they 
were  speaking  there  could  also  be  heard  at  the  front 
door  the  loud  tones  of  the  officer,  "  Rush  in,  men !" 
and  ere  the  sound  of  the  words  of  the  trustee  and 
pastor,  aforesaid,  had  died  away  the  sergeant  had  seized 
the  former  by  the  collar  of  his  coat,  and  another 
officer  the  pastor,  with  the  order,  "  Take  them  out 
to  the  barracks,"  as  he  handed  the  trustee  over  to 
one  of  his  subordinates.      As  they  were   both  being 


180     ^^-2^  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

roughly  pulled  towards  the  door  the  excitement  was 
terrible,  the  men  rushing  towards  the  pulpit  and  the 
women  screaming  in  their  fright.  The  police,  fearing 
no  doubt  an  attack  from  the  men,  drew  their  pistols 
and  fired  two  shots ;  and  to  crown  the  scene  with 
horror,  some  one  turned  off  the  gas,  and  left  them,  as 
it  were,  in  the  darkness  of  midnight.  By  this  time 
the  trustee  and  pastor  were  out  of  the  tumult,  in 
the  street,  without  hats  and  in  the  rain.  The  police- 
officers,  seeming  content  with  the  arrest  of  these  two, — 
no  doubt  agreed  upon  and  so  ordered  by  their  chief, — 
molested  no  one  else  of  the  large  crowd  who  followed 
them  to  the  station-house.  It  is  not  known  with 
certainty  how  Mr.  Harris  got  out,  there  being  a  large 
window  behind  him  as  he  stood  in  the  pulpit,  open- 
ing into  the  back  part  of  the  lot ;  no  doubt  he  found 
safe  exit  by  it,  and,  maybe,  jumped  over  the  back 
fence  and  took  the  nearest  route  towards  his  residence 
or  that  of  some  of  his  friends.  However,  he  was 
not  seen  again  that  night,  nor  did  he  appear  at  the 
police-station  to  prefer  charges,  as  is  customary  in 
breaches  of  the  peace.  Houston  and  Simms  were 
taken  there,  and  searched  and  dispossessed  of  what 
their  pockets  contained,  for  the  time  being  (returned 
upon  their  release),  and  ruthlessly  locked  up  in  a  dark 
cell,  with  nothing  inside  but  themselves,  the  four  walls, 
the  floor,  and  the  ceiling. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  igl 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  they  were  locked  up. 
For  a  few  minutes  after  each  was  busy  with  his  thoughts, 
and  neither  spoke  to  the  other  a  word.  Rev.  Houston, 
being  a  large,  heavy  man,  from  the  long  walk,  about 
a  mile,  felt  tired,  and  sat  down  upon  the  floor;  Simms, 
being  small  of  stature  and  light  of  frame,  and  under 
mental  excitement,  stood  up,  leaning  against  the  wall 
of  their  prison.  The  silence  was  broken  by  Pastor 
Houston,  who  cleared  his  throat,  and  at  once  commenced 
to  sing  in  a  soft,  clear  voice  Dr.  Watts's  beautiful 
hymn  of  "God's  purpose  of  mercy, — " 

"  The  Lord  on  high  proclaims 

His  Godhead  from  his  throne  ; 
Mercy  and  Justice  are  the  names 
By  which  he  will  ho  known. 

"  Ye  dying  souls  that  sit 
In  darkness  and  distress, 
Look  from  the  borders  of  the  pit 
;race. 

"  Sinners  shall  hear  the  sound  ; 

Their  thankful  tongues  shall  own 
Their  righteousness  and  strength  are  found 
In  thee,  0  Lord,  alone. 

"  In  thee  shall  Israel  trust, 

And  see  their  guilt  forgiven  ; 
Thou  wilt  pronounce  the  sinners  just, 
And  take  the  saints  to  heaven." 


182     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

He  sang  every  stanza  as  correctly  in  that  dark  room 
as  if  he  were  in  his  pulpit  with  the  gaslight  on  the 
book.  His  companion  in  imprisonment,  being  moved 
by  this  cheering  act  of  faith  and  resignation,  joined  in 
as  he  began  the  second  stanza,  and  they  thus  sang 
together  to  the  end.  As  if  the  arch-enemy  would 
mock  them,  a  most  ludicrous  incident  occurred  while 
they  were  singing.  The  guard  outside,  in  the  passage- 
way to  the  cells,  a  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle  (or,  in 
other  words  an  Irishman),  exclaimed  gruffly,  in  his 
native  brogue,  "  Niver  moind;  Mayyer  Screeven  will 
give  yees  the  divil  in  the  morning;"  and  both  the 
singers  simultaneously  replied,  "No,  he  won't."  It 
was  not  more  than  about  twenty  minutes  after  when, 
as  guard  and  door-keeper,  he  received  the  order  at  the 
outer  door,  "  Bring  out  Houston  and  Simms." 

Like  the  early  churches  of  the  Apostles,  our  old 
Bryan  was  now  wide  awake  in  this  the  height  of  the 
storm,  and  active  for  the  deliverance  of  these  brethren 
and  leaders.  Directed  by  the  God  of  heaven,  they 
quickly  found  human  succor.  When  the  two  prisoners 
came  into  the  police-office  again,  whence  they  were  sent 
not  over  half  an  hour  before,  the  appearance  of  things 
was  very  different.  The  officer  in  charge  was  more 
pleasant  and  polite,  and  some  three  or  four  deacons, 
with  Mr.  Charles  Ash,  a  citizen  of  property  and 
prominence,  and  P.  W.  Mildrim,  Esq.,  a  young  lawyer, 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  183 

were  all  pleasantly  chatting  together  over  the  inci- 
dents of  the  night.  As  the  officer  handed  each  of  us 
an  envelope,  he  requested  us  to  examine  its  contents, 
and  see  if  they  were  as  when  delivered  to  hira. 
Being  assured  that  they  were,  we  were  told  that  we 
were  at  liberty  to  depart  then,  and  to  appear  again 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  answer  to  the 
charge  in  the  mayor's  court.  Bonds  had  been  given 
by  those  kind  gentlemen,  both  of  whom  are,  under 
the  smiles  of  kind  Heaven,  living  and  prospering  at 
the  time  of  this  writing. 

When  they  appeared  on  the  streets  they  were  greeted 
by  the  church  members  with  joy  ;  a  large  number  of 
the  sisters,  brethren,  and  some  other  friends,  were  at 
the  portal  of  the  prison,  though  it  was  still  raining, 
when  they  delivered  the  prisoners,  and  their  friends 
shortly  afterwards  returned  to  their  homes,  rejoicing 
in  the  midst  of  their  trials  at  what  God  had  done. 

They  appeared  before  his  Honor,  the  mayor,  in  the 
morning,  and  he  discharged  them  on  the  same  ground 
upon  which  he  previously  had  Brother  Green,  for  want 
of  jurisdiction  in  the  case.  But,  not  to  be  outdone, 
the  brother  got  his  case  before  the  grand  jury  of  the 
Superior  Court,  which  returned  a  true  bill  against 
Simms  and  Houston  for  misdemeanor. 

The  officers  in  behalf  of  the  church  and  through 
counsel  petitioned  the  court  to  dissolve  the  injunction 


184     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCS  ~ 

granted  Harris,  showing  the  extent  of  the  injury  he 
was  doing  the  church,  and  ten  days  after  the  trial  in 
the  mayor's  court  the  following  writ  was  granted  : 

"Superior  Court,  Chatham  County. 

"  Alexander  Harris,  complainant,  and  Ulysses  S. 
Houston,  et  al.,  defendants.  Temporary  injunction 
issued  March  14,  1872. 

"  It  Being  Made  To  Appear,  That  The  Complainant, 
Alexander  Harris,  although  elected  for  one  year  pastor 
of  the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  was  a  member  of 
said  church,  and  as  such  is  under  the  dealings  of  the 
church,  and  by  virtue  of  the  Sovereignty  of  Baptist 
churches,  the  church  has  the  power  to  deal  with  him  in 
their  own  way ;  And  it  further  appearing  that  his  pastoral 
year  for  which  he  was  elected  has  expired  or  nearly  so, 
it  is  ordered  that  the  said  injunction  be  dissolved. 

"  Witness  my  hand  and  official  signature  this  1st 
April,  A.D.  1872. 

"W.  Schley, 
"  Judge  Supreme  Court  Eastern  Circuit  of  Georgia. 
"  A  true  extract  from  the  minutes, 

this  first  day  of  April,  a.d.  1872.  [l.s.] 

"  Z.  N.  Winkler. 
"  Deputy  Clerk,  Superior  Court 
of  Chatham  County,  Georgia.""^ 

This  shut  Mr.  Harris  out  finally,  and  he  has  never 
returned ;  and  the  "  church  felt  in  her  body  that  she 
was  healed  of  the  plague." 

*  True  copy  of  the  writ. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  JgS 


CHAPTER    XL 

The  church  again  peaceably  met  in  her  regular  con- 
ference April  18,  1872.  All  her  regular  meetings  for 
prayer  and  preaching  had  been  resumed.  Deacon 
Rivers  made  report  of  his  mission  of  reconciliation, 
for  which  he  was  appointed,  that  the  only  one  that 
he  could  persuade  was  his  aged  colleague  upon  the 
deacon's  staff.  Brother  Grant  Simpson,  who  was  present. 
After  some  explanations  relative  to  his  public  acts  and 
present  feelings,  he  was  fully  restored  to  his  former 
])rivileges  and  position.  A  committee  was  appointed 
at  this  meeting  to  draft  resolutions  relative  to  the 
action  of  the  members  revolting  against  the  authority 
of  the  church  and  report  them  at  the  next  conference, 
which  they  did  on  the  16th  of  May  following: 

"  Your  committee,  appointed  to  draft  suitable  resolu- 
tions respecting  the  disonlerly  members,  submit  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

"  Whereas,  The  following-named  persons,  Brothers 
Peter  Campbell,  William  Washington,  Major  Cannorn, 
John  Jackson,  David  Slea,  Andrew  Law,  Augustus 
Grampus,  Hezekiah  Givens,  James  Lewis,  John  Long- 
wood,  Amos  McFall,  Daniel  Green,  Wra.  Fergerson, 
Lisbon  Bing,  Charles  Gumming,  Joseph  Stiles,  Joseph 


186     TEE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Verderee,  Henry  Hamilton,  James  Spalding,  and  Sis- 
ters Sarah  Harrison,  Ann  Stiles,  Sarah  Odingsell, 
Mary  Irving,  Mary  Savoy,  Jane  Irving,  Sally  Howell, 
Elsey  Moter,  Eliza  Washington,  Julia  Cooper,  Mary 
Verderee,  Sarah  Ferriby,  Lizzie  Mitchel,  Francis  Har- 
ris, Mary  Anderson,  Mira  Webb,  Anna  Bullock,  Abi- 
gail Small, Blocker, Blocker,  Dolly  Moran, 

Virginia   Cannorn,    Rebecca  Williams,   Lewis, 

Nelly  Johnson,  C.  McQuiney,  having  openly  rebelled 
against  the  sovereign  power  of  the  church ;  and  have 
smuggled  away  the  church  property,  and  setting  them- 
selves up  as  a  church,  and  are  receiving  and  commu- 
ning with  the  excluded  members  of  this  church  contrary 
to  her  rules  and  the  gospel. 

"  And  whereas.  Repeated  invitations  have  been  ex- 
tended them  to  return  to  the  fellowship  and  authority 
of  the  church,  and  they  have  not  done  so,  but  continue 
to  ignore  the  rights  of  the  church,  Now,  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  By  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  their 
actions  are  hereby  condemned,  and  each  and  every  one 
of  them  are  hereby  expelled. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  church  is  in  no  way  opposed 
to  the  largest  liberty  of  its  members  consistent  with 
the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the  long  practical  experience 
in  the  discipline  and  customs  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion, and  believe  that  any  member  or  members,  for  good 
and  sufficient  reasons  first  being  given  to  the  church, 
may  withdraw  their  membership. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  condemn  and  depre- 
cate the  action  of  any  Baptist  church  receiving  the 
expelled  members  of  another  Baptist  church  into  their 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  Ig? 

fellowship,  and  hold  uuiou  and  communion  with  them, 
and  the  fact  that  the  pastor  of  the  First  African 
Baptist  Church  of  this  city  inviting  an  expelled  mem- 
ber of  this  church  to  preach  in  his  pulpit  and  officiate 
in  said  church  meet  the  unqualified  condemnation  of 
this  church,  and  is  productive  of  disunion  among  the 
churches  of  our  Association,  contemptuous  of  our 
Baptist  discipline,  and  perversive  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the 
minutes  of  this  church,  and  a  copy  be  sent  through  our 
delegates  to  the  Zion  Baptist  Association  when  tiiey 
shall  again  convene. 

"  Signed, 

"  Wm.  Rivers, 

"  H.  Rahn, 

"  E.  Wicks,  Chawman." 


The  delegates  to  the  Association  this  year  (1872) 
were :  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Brethren  Q.  Frazer,  W. 
Rivers,  W.  Green,  and  E.  Wicks  :  reported  baptized, 
29 ;  by  letter,  4 ;  restored,  25 ;  dismissed  by  letter  to 
organize  a  church,  268 ;  membership,  337.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Association  adjourned  to  meet 
with  the  Darien  Baptist  Church,  and  that  Brother  A. 
Harris  was  to  preach  the  introductory  sermon,  with 
Rev.  C.  F.  Lawton  as  alternate.  Both  were  present 
when  the  session  met.  Mr.  Harris's  career  since  the 
last  session  was  most  notoriously  known  by  nearly  all 


188      ^^^   FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

the  delegates  present.  He  went  into  the  pulpit  and 
attempted  to  preach,  notwithstanding  he  well  knew  the 
church's  delegates  would  protest,  as  he  was  an  expelled 
member  of  this  church.  The  brethren  who  came  to 
the  Association  prepared  to  sustain  him  insisted  that,  as 
the  appointment  was  made  before  these  occurrences,  he 
was  entitled  to  preach,  and  that  the  protest  be  made  after 
organization.  This  was  demurred  against,  and  the 
trouble  of  the  church  now  became  transferred  to  the 
Association.  After  spending  the  whole  morning  dis- 
cussing the  matter,  the  church  was  sustained  against 
Brother  Harris  and  his  followers,  for  it  seems  they 
were  fully  under  liis  control,  and  the  introductory 
sermon  was  dispensed  with.  The  Association  then 
proceeded  to  the  business  of  organization,  and  read 
letters  up  to  adjournment  in  the  evening.  On  tlie 
morning  of  the  second  day  occurred  a  stormy  session 
during  the  election  for  officers;  but  it  resulted  in  a 
complete  victory  for  right  and  justice.  The  Moderator 
for  the  last  six  years  was  renominated  by  Mr.  Harris, 
and  the  pastor  of  this  church  was  nominated  by 
Brother  Simms,  now  pastor  of  the  Zion  Baptist  Church 
of  Liberty  County.  The  vote  as  reported  by  the 
tellers  was :  Rev.  A.  Bourke,  31 ;  Eev.  U.  L.  Hous- 
ton, 41 ;  and  the  church  was  thus  vindicated.  Subse- 
quently the  committee  on  the  state  of  churches  reported 
relative  to  this  churcli  as  follows:  ''We  find  that  two 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  189 

sets  of  letters  were  sent  to  the  Association,  two  sets  of 
delegates  representing  the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church 
of  Savannah,  Georgia,  complaining  against  each  other, 
and  one  set  of  letters  mention  a  council  of  ministers 
called  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  gave  names  of  only 
a  portion  of  the  council,  and  fails  to  report  the  decision 
of  that  council,  and  the  other  letter  makes  no  mention 
of  a  council.* 

A  portion  of  this  report  was  stricken  out  by  the 
Association,  and  the  following  substitute,  by  Rev.  Da- 
vid Watters,  was  adopted  in  its  stead  : 

"  That  each  church  is  thejudge  of  its  own  members, 
and  we  endorse  the  action  of  the  First  Bryan  Baptist 
Church  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Harris  and  others;  yet,  as 
an  advisory  body,  we  hereby  counsel  them  to  return  to 
the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston, 
pastor,  and  be  reconciled." 

The  course  of  Brother  Harris  was  so  notoriously 
wrong,  unchristian-like,  and  inconsistent  as  a  Baptist, 
that  the  brethren  who  defended  it  could  only  do  so 
from  personal  motives  or  prejudicial  feelings,  and  not 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  interest  of  our  denomi- 
national cause  ;  and  it  is  due  the  truth  of  history  to  say, 
as  much  as  we  regret  it,  that  at  that  particular  period 


*  Copied  from  the  minutes  of  the  Association,  1872,  page  27, 
paragraph  8. 

9* 


190     I'HE  FIRST   COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

in  our  history  much  of  that  feeling  of  prejudice  and 
jealousy  prevailed, — Campbell  against  Simms,  Boles 
against  Houston,  each  of  whom  had  influence  in  dif- 
ferent spheres.  Campbell  and  Boles  were  men  very 
popular  with  the  white  citizens  of  Savannah,  and 
thought  it  was  best  that  those  in  the  ministry  should 
not  meddle  with  politics,  and  were  much  influenced  in 
their  views  by  the  opinions  of  the  white  brethren. 
Houston  and  Simms,  younger  and  feeling  more  inde- 
pendent, felt  it  their  duty  to  enter  that  arena,  as  it 
was  at  the  time  a  death-struggle  for  equality  of  rights 
before  the  law.  Both  were,  no  doubt,  ambitious. 
Again,  Boles  was  a  member  of  this  church  and  a 
very  useful  man  in  doing  much  to  build  her  up,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  aspired  as  a  son  to  be  the 
pastor.  The  church  chose  the  young  man,  Houston, 
and  not  the  elder  man.  Boles.  He  became  offended, 
left  this  church  with  a  letter,  which  the  church  very 
reluctantly  gave  him,  and  joined  the  First  African 
Church,  of  which  Rev.  Campbell  was  pastor,  leaving 
behind  him  a  feeling  of  deep  regret  and  the  seeds  of 
dissension  with  his  friends  in  his  old  mother  church, 
of  course;  and  he  ever  after  strove  to  detract  from  her 
and  draw  away  her  country  membership. 

Simms  had  become  early  in  life  a  member  of  the 
First  African  Church,  under  Dr.  Marshall,  and  was 
Brother  Campbell's  constant  help  at  the  time  of  his 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  ^191 

building  tlie  present  house  of  worship.  He  had  been 
his  clerk,  deacon,  master-builder,  and  intimate  coun- 
sellor, until  the  church  insisted  upon  setting  him 
apart  for  the  ministry,  against  the  objections,  of  the 
pastor.  Jealousy  ensued,  and  their  close  relations 
ceased.  The  civil  war  was  raging  and  the  younger 
colored  men  of  the  city  were  being  pressed  into  service 
upon  the  Confederate  works  around  the  city.  This 
was  so  repugnant  to  Sirams  that  he  left  the  South, 
went  to  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  while  preaching 
there  as  a  licentiate  from  the  First  African  Church  of 
Savannah,  the  brethren  in  Boston  proposed  to  ordain 
him,  to  be  prepared  for  the  work  soon  to  be  begun  at 
the  close  of  this  great  conflict,  as  now  our  people  were 
free.  So,  in  April,  18G4,  in  the  Twelfth  Baptist 
Church  a  presbytery  of  five  colored  Baptist  ministers 
— Grimes,  of  the  Twelfth ;  Raymond,  of  the  Second 
Baptist  of  New  York ;  White,  of  Joy  Street  Church, 
Boston  ;  Thomson,  a  missionary  of  Boston  ;  and  Ran- 
dolph, of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts — ordained  him 
as  an  evangelist  of  the  gospel.  When  he  returned  to 
Savannah,  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell  took  this  as  a  pretext 
for  crippling  his  influence  with  the  members  of  his 
church,  claiming  that  it  was  an  infraction  of  his 
church's  rights  to  allow  ordination  by  another  church 
under  whose  watch-care  he  was,  and  that  it  showed 
contempt    for   him.      The    Twelfth    Baptist   Church 


192     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

wrote  a  letter  disclaiming  any  intention  of  infringing 
upon  the  rights  of  her  sister  church  in  the  South,  and 
stating  that  what  they  had  done  was  with  the  view  of 
facilitating  missionary  work  down  here  solely  as  a  war 
measure.  This  letter  was  suppressed  by  the  pastor,  and 
the  church,  not  receiving  the  information,  refused  to 
recognize  the  ordination ;  and  having  a  large  congre- 
gation spread  far  around  the  country,  thus  stopped  the 
ministerial  work  of  Simms,  who  was  a  missionary  of 
the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  laboring 
on  the  Savannah  Kiver  plantations. 

Mr.  Simms,  being  crippled  by  his  pastor  and  church 
in  his  religious  labors,  turned  very  naturally  to  where 
at  this  time  he  was  much  needed, — the  political  field. 
He  went,  as  Rev.  Houston  did,  to  the  legislature 
from  the  largest  populated  county  in  the  State, — i.e., 
Chatham.  What  little  distinction  he  won  in  that 
body  and  upon  the  hustings  increased  the  jealousy  of 
Brother  Campbell ;  seeing  this,  and  his  friend  and  sym- 
pathizer, Houston,  in  trouble,  partly  through  his  per- 
suasion in  getting  him  into  politics,  he  took  his  letter 
from  the  First  African  and  went  to  the  First  Bryan 
Church.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  how  the  seeds  from 
which  the  roots  of  bitterness  sprang  created  these  dis- 
sensions. Brother  Harris,  the  better  to  help  his  am- 
bitious personal  ends,  took  advantage  of  the  feeling 
which  he  was  well  aware  existed  between  these  four 


JN   NORTH  AMERICA.  I93 

brethren  before  mentioned,  they  having  much  influ- 
ence with  our  elder  ministers  outside  of  the  city 
among  whom  they  had  been  laboring  for  years  in 
slavery  times,  having  since  ordained  some  of  them, 
and  being  looked  up  to  as  their  advisors  in  the  affairs 
of  their  people.  Campbell  and  Boles  had  a  following 
that  Harris  designed  to  and  subsequently  did  use  for 
his  advancement,  without  which  his  religious  and 
ministerial  career  might  have  ended  with  this  session 
of  the  Zion  Baptist  Association.  As  we  now  look  at 
the  then  division,  Campbell  and  Boles,  Houston  and 
Simms,  with  Harris  in  the  breach,  striving  for  place 
and  power  to  appease  a  morbid  ambition  with  personal 
unpopularity,  and  taking  hold  upon  these  two  elders 
with  a  large  constituency  and  small  mental  calibre,  so 
well  suited  to  his  purpose,  we  have  the  elements  out 
of  which  grew,  soon  after  adjournment,  the  "  3fount 
Olive  Association,' '  from  which  much  good  has  come, 
we  know,  which  is  still  existing,  and  which  may  do 
much  more  by  the  overruling  power  of  God.  Noth- 
ing here  written  is  intended  to  disparage  that  Associ- 
ation in  any  sense.  But  the  controlling  power  of  the 
Zion  Baptist  Association,  for  seven  years  in  the  hands 
of  these  elders,  was  lost  to  them  at  this  session ;  and 
seeing  younger  men,  whom  they  had  unwisely  en- 
deavored to  keep  down,  if  not  to  destroy,  now  in  the 
ascendency,  their  power  taken  away,  as  evidenced  in 


194     ^^^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

the  election  of  Houston,  and  their  measures  voted 
down,  they  were  guided  by  the  strong,  insidious,  wil- 
ful mind  of  Brother  Harris,  and  resolved  to  separate 
from  the  old  Association. 

It  is  really  true  that  all  who  opposed  the  wishes  of 
those  elder  brethren  respected  tliem  higlily,  yea,  some 
loved  them,  and  regretted  the  state  of  things  that  ex- 
isted ;  but  seeing  they  were  in  the  wrong,  and  that 
their  action  would  stop  the  progress  of  our  cause,  op- 
posed them,  and  from  that  day  to  their  death,  so  far 
as  our  Baptist  field  is  concerned,  their  glory  departed  ; 
and,  as  they  could  no  longer  rule,  they  seceded — some 
six  churches — and  founded  the  Mount  Olive  Associa- 
tion. That  was  all  they  did.  They  did  it  for  the  bene- 
fit of  Brother  Harris ;  and  one  by  one  they  soon  passed 
from  earth  to  heaven,  leaving  it  to  him,  now  the  only 
survivor  of  that  day.  And  now,  as  we  must  close  up 
the  historical  part  of  Brother  Harris's  connection  with 
the  church, — he  having  from  this  associational  meet- 
ing no  connection  with  it, — it  is  due  to  this  history  to 
say  that  it  is  solely  with  the  public  acts  we  deal;  in 
private  life,  had  we  to  make  criticisms,  we  could  show 
many  excellent  qualities  of  this  our  brother;  and  we 
write  as  fully  as  we  do  for  the  benefit  of  those  to  come 
after  us,  that  when  they  examine  into  and  review  our 
work  and  way,  they  may  better  avoid  the  mistakes  we 
made,  which  if  we  had  not  we  might  have  accomplished 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  I95 

SO  much  more.  No  doubt  it  was  a  mistake  for  Hous- 
ton and  Simms  to  dabble  in  politics,  in  which  there  is 
much  evil,  yet  it  may  have  been  necessary,  and  if  so 
it  was  at  the  time  with  them ;  but  it  may  be  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Houston  the  original  evil  that  suggested 
the  first  wrong  thought  and  act  in  Mr.  Harris,  and  led 
on  a  train  of  circumstances  in  one  direction  and  then 
in  another  that  culminated  in  the  whole  of  these  diffi- 
culties shown  in  this  history.  Looking  at  it  from  this 
point,  none  of  the  actors  can  be  clear  from  blame,  if 
a  small  cause  may  produce  a  large  effect, — and  a  cause 
is  responsible  for  its  effects, — though  two  wrongs  are 
never  known  to  make  a  right.  But  with  these  wrongs 
and  mistakes  we  may  see  the  hand  of  an  overruling 
Providence,  and  that  his  commands  in  his  revealed 
will  to  us  are  the  best  possible  good  for  man ;  yet  what 
he  permits  he  is  also  able  to  overrule  for  good  to  his 
glory.  Therefore,  had  Houston  not  gone  to  Atlanta 
for  two  years,  Harris  might  have  always  remained  a 
deacon  of  the  church  to  the  end,  as  Mr.  Johnson  has 
done;  had  Simms  not  gone  to  Boston  and  been  or- 
dained, he  might  have  remained  with  the  First  Afri- 
can Church,  in  harmony  with  Brother  Campbell,  who 
would  never  have  had  cause  to  oppose  Houston  because 
he  sheltered  Simms;  had  Campbell  and  Boles  not 
aided  Harris  in  his  extremity  in  the  Association,  him- 
self, as  a  pastor,  his  present  little  church  might  not 


196     THE  FIRST   COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

have  striven  to  organize  and  perform  the  many  ser- 
vices to  the  cause  of  charity  that  they  are  known  to 
have  accomplished,  distinctively  more  than  any  other 
in  proportion  to  their  numbers  and  resources. 

The  Georgia  Infirmary  owes  much  to  him  and  his 
church.  His  inventive  genius  served  him  constantly 
as  he  has  ripened  in  age  and  experience,  some  bitter, 
it  is  true ;  yet  it  has  given  him  more  real  power  for  the 
good  which  he  is  so  capable  of  doing;  and  with  an 
education  in  the  letters  and  occult  sciences  to  light  up 
that  genius,  his  energy  and  indomitable  will  would 
have  made  him  superior  by  far  to  any  of  the  group  of 
men  with  whom  he  had  been  reared  and  with  whom  he 
acted  in  the  affairs  of  life.  The  cause  of  the  separation 
and  the  wounds  made  there  by  him  have  long  been 
removed  and  healed,  and  the  Church  has  as  much 
claim  upon  him  and  his  church  and  the  same  love 
that  a  mother  would  feel  for  a  wayward  daughter, 
who  at  last  turned  out  well  and  proved  creditable 
to  the  house  from  which  she  sprang.  Does  not  all 
this  show  the  overruling  power  of  God,  whose  love 
and  grace  are  sufficient  for  us  ?  These  views  will 
lighten  the  burden  of  age  to  all  of  the  actors  of  the 
day  of  which  we  now  write,  though  there  are  very 
few  that  still  remain ;  but  they  are  not  written  for 
them,  but  for  those  that  shall  succeed  us.  It  must 
not   be   inferred   either   that  what   has   been   accom- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  197 

plished  was  not  by  some  self-sacrifice  on  the  part 
of  all  these  brethren,  and,  even  in  the  height  of 
these  disagreeable  times,  there  were  always  a  middle 
and  conservative  class  of  brethren  who  neutralized 
much  of  the  evil  tendencies,  and  at  last  brought  about 
pence  and  harmony.  Houston's  consoling  words  and 
prayers  in  the  closing  hours  of  Rev.  Brother  Boles's 
life, — Simms's  doing  the  same  services  for  Rev.  William 
J.  Campbell, — standing  by  his  bed,  closing  his  eyes  in 
death,  and  both  Houston  and  Simms  officiating  at  his 
funeral  from  this  old  church  (and  not  the  one  he 
built),  the  old  mother  Bryan  church,  going  first  in  a 
body  to  her  wayward  yet  loved  daughter  (Bryan  church) 
to  break  bread  in  spiritual  communion  with  her;  and 
as  she  entered  the  sanctuary,  Houston  and  Harris  met 
in  the  embrace  of  each  other.  All  hearts  full  of  peace, 
all  eyes  bathed  in  tears,  they  feast  with  their  Lord  and 
former  pastor  at  the  table,  with  their  own  pastor  by 
his  side  ;  they  sing  together  thanksgiving  and  praise, 
and  take  the  parting  hand  of  fellowship  which  had 
once  been  withheld,  never  to  be  severed,  we  trust, 
again.  Surely,  then,  we  see  that  his  grace  is  sufficient, 
his  ruling  providence  is  as  wise  as  it  is  good,  and  thus, 
like  David  of  old,  we  are  made  to  exclaim  of  our 
God,  through  Christ,  "  He  is  good,  and  his  mercies 
endureth  for  ever." 

In  1873  the  church  was  represented   by  the  pastor 


198     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

alone,  who  also  was  pastor  of  and  represented  the 
branch  organized  at  Ogeechee.  This  church  baptized 
155;  received  by  letter,  16;  restored,  16;  and  re- 
ported a  membership  of  537, — a  gain  of  195  for  the 
year.  Her  trials  being  over,  she  was  blessed  with  an 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  and  the  ingathering  of  souls ; 
peace  and  great  harmony  prevailed  now  in  every  way. 
The  deacons  were  Brethren  Grant  Simpson,  William 
Rivers,  William  Green,  and  Edward  AVicks  of  the  old 
staff;  in  September,  1871,  during  the  troubles,  there 
were  added  Brethren  Amos  Denslow,  Polado  Jackson, 
and  J.  B.  Lewis;  and  at  the  regular  conference  of 
February  7  of  this  year.  Brethren  H.  R.  Rahn  and 
Hazzard  McPherson  were  chosen  and  set  apart  on 
trial.  It  has  always  been  the  custom  of  the  church 
to  put  her  deacons  on  some  months'  trial  before  or- 
daining them.  Now  that  she  had  put  on  trial  these 
newly  selected,  on  the  28th  of  April  four  brethren 
who  had  been  on  trial  some  length  of  time,  namely. 
Brethren  Rivers,  Lewis,  Jackson,  and  Denslow,  were 
ordained.  It  was  at  the  conference  held  this  month 
that  the  church  adopted  the  new  constitution,  cove- 
nant, and  by-laws  reported  from  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  draft  them,  consisting  of  Brethren  J.  M. 
Simms,  E.  Wicks,  and  H.  R.  Rahn,  and  a  resolution 
was  passed  to  have  the  same  printed  in  pamphlet  form, 
with  a  roll  of  the  members  therein,  for  distribution. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  199 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  proposition  was  made 
by  some  of  the  brethren  to  take  down  the  old  clmrch- 
building,  erected  by  Mr.  Bryan  in  1794-95.  The 
ont-bnilding  or  praise-house,  as  it  is  generally  called, 
built  upon  the  Gibbons  lot  before  mentioned,  and  rolled 
upon  this  ground  in  1793,  became  dilapidated,  and  a 
new  building,  twenty-five  by  forty  feet,  was  erected  in 
its  stead  iu  1865,  on  the  southern  part  of  the  lot. 
This  main  edifice  was  much  out  of  repair;  besides,  all 
felt  it  had  been  desecrated  by  the  troubles  of  1871, 
when  the  police  entered  it  and  fired  off  their  pistols. 
And  now  it  was  proposed  to  take  it  down  and  erect  a 
brick  structure  as  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Father  Bryan,  and  as  a  token  of  their  gratitude  to 
God  for  their  redemption  from  moral  as  well  as  spirit- 
ual bondage.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1873,  a  mass- 
meeting  of  the  members  and  of  the  friends  of  the 
church  was  called.  The  pastor.  Rev.  Mr.  Houston, 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  the  subject  of  taking 
down  and  erecting  was  fully  discussed,  and  it  was  re- 
solved that,  if  the  church  would  consent  to  tear  down 
the  precious  old  structure,  they  would,  as  a  committee 
of  the  whole,  see  that  another  built  of  brick  would 
replace  it,  upon  the  plans  selected  by  the  church. 
Brother  Edward  Wright  suggesting  that,  in  so  import- 
ant an  affair,  we  should  first  seek  counsel  and  direc- 
tion from  Almighty  God,  the  pastor  therefore  led  iu  a 


200     ^^-^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

fervent,  feeling  prayer.  Then,  as  an  earnest  of  the 
pledge,  a  spontaneous  collection  of  three  hundred  and 
fourteen  dollars  and  twelve  cents  cash  was  raised,  with 
promises  of  much  more  in  subscriptions.  Committees 
on  finance,  on  materials,  and  on  building  were  ap- 
pointed, ready  to  act  when  the  church  gave  their  con- 
sent, and  when  their  endorsement  was  procured. 

The  committees  as  appointed  were :. 

On  Finance. — J.  M.  Simms,  chairman,  George  B. 
Lewis,  D.  Walters,  Edward  Wicks,  Henry  Rahn, 
Wade  Collins,  Joseph  Stiles,  Frank  Jones,  Isaac 
Righton. 

On  Building. — U.  L.  Houston,  chairman,  William 
Rivers,  Charles  H.  Price,  Polado  Jackson,  John  Sim- 
mers. 

On  3Iaterials. — John  Jackson,  chairman. 

The  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  conference  of 
August  18,  1873,  and  was  unanimously  accepted,  and 
the  chairman  of  the  building  committee  was  em- 
powered to  procure  a  draft  of  a  plan  and  submit  the 
same  to  the  church  forthwith.  On  the  14th  of  Sep- 
tember the  draft  of  a  plan  made  by  civil  engineer  and 
city  surveyor  John  B.  Howard,  of  Savannah,  free  of 
charge,  was  exhibited  to  the  members  of  the  church, 
who  authorized  the  taking  down  of  the  old  building 
which  had  sheltered  them,  and  in  which  so  many  of  our 
fathers  and  mothers  had  gathered  to  worship  God,  to 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  201 

sympathize  with  and  to  encourage  each  other,  remember- 
ing the  prayers  made,  the  tears  shed,  the  sins  confessed 
and  pardon  found,  the  sweet  communion,  solemn  and 
joyful  songs  of  prayer  and  praise,  the  numberless  souls 
born  of  God,  renewed  in  Christ,  that  had  marched 
from  her  doors  to  the  river  and  been  bai)tized,  and 
then  in  heaven,  while  many  were  yet  here  on  earth. 
With  these  reflections,  while  the  consent  was  given 
to  remove  this  ancient  landmark  of  our  civilization 
and  Christianity,  once  the  pride  and  glory  of  our  an- 
cestors, the  church  was  loth  to  part  with  it,  and  as  an 
evidence  of  her  devotion  to  its  memory  had  the  old 
temple  photographed  on  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  the 
29th,  the  pastor,  with  the  new  building-plan,  standing 
at  the  door,  surrounded  by  members  and  friends  out- 
side, and  the  aged  mother  of  the  church,  Sarah  Wal- 
lace, beside  the  gate.  The  copies  of  this  photograph 
sold  readily  to  the  members  and  friends  at  one  dollar 
each,  over  a  hundred  being  taken  and  sold  for  the 
benefit  of  the  building  fund. 

The  church  had  communed  for  the  last  time  in  the 
dear  old  building  on  the  last  Sabbath,  or  28th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  1st  of  October, 
the  brethren  who  volunteered  to  tear  it  down  com- 
menced the  work,  such  of  the  old  planks  and  timbers 
as  were  found  in  a  good  state  of  preservation  being 
reserved  for  use  in  minor  places  in  the  new  building. 


202     THE  FIRST   COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

Such  were  the  zeal  and  progress  of  the  work  at  the 
beginning  that  on  the  afternoon  of  the  13th  of  Oc- 
tober the  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid. 
The  stone  and  the  copper  box  enclosed  therein  were  paid 
for  and  presented  by  the  Sabbath-school,  at  a  cost  of 
twenty-two  dollars.  The  stone  was  laid  with  imposing 
ceremonies  by  the  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Col- 
ored Masons  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  attended  by  two 
subordinate  lodges, — Eureka,  No.  1,  and  John  T.  Hil- 
ton, No.  2.  Grand  Master  Lewis  B.  Tormer  officiated, 
assisted  by  Deputy  Grand  Master  John  H.  Devoux  (a 
grandson  of  one  of  the  former  pastors)  and  Grand  Sec- 
retary Albert  Jackson.  They  marched  from  their  hall, 
at  the  corner  of  Bay  and  Lincoln  Streets,  in  regalia  and 
with  their  emblems,  to  the  church  grounds,  where  was 
assembled  a  very  large  congregation  of  both  white  and 
colored  citizens.  An  appropriate  ode  was  sung  by  the 
order,  an  address  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Turner  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  now 
a  bishop,  suitable  and  impressive  prayer  was  offered  by 
Rev.  James  Meriles  Simras,  a  short  statement  of  the 
early  history  of  the  church  was  given  by  the  pastor  for 
deposit  in  the  box,  with  copies  of  the  city  press,  the 
State  constitution,  and  the  names  of  the  State  officers, 
also  the  names  of  the  mayor  and  city  council ;  many 
coins  and  small  curiosities  of  jewelry  worn  by  the 
old    members;    also   pieces   of   old    coin   which    had 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  203 

been  found  on  pulling  down  tlie  old  building,  and 
which  had  been  deposited  in  the  corner-stone  at  its 
erection,  were  placed  again  in  the  new  box.  The 
cover  of  the  box  was  soldered  on,  and  the  stone  was 
then  })laced  in  its  position  according  to  the  ancient 
customs  of  the  Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  A  dox- 
ology  was  sung,  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by 
the  pastor,  and  the  large  but  orderly  assemblage  quietly 
dispersed.  The  day  was  bright  and  the  afternoon  as 
balmy  as  that  of  an  autumn  day  could  be. 

In  1874  the  delegates  were  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston, 
Wm.  Rivers,  A.  Denslow,  P.  Jackson,  and  E.  Wicks ; 
baptized,  15  ;  membership,  550. 

In  1875,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  G.  B.  Lewis,  O. 
Foster,  A.  Denslow,  E.  Wicks,  H.  R.  Rahn,  J.  M. 
Simms,  and  W.  Rivers ;  baptized,  33 ;  membership, 
586. 

In  1876,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Wicks,  and  Jackson; 
baptized,  34  ;  membership,  630. 

In  1877,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Foster,  Wicks, 
Lewis,  and  Rahn;  baptized,  98;  membership,  715. 

In  1878,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Lewis  and  Wicks; 
baptized,  24;  membership,  730. 

In  1879,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Simms,  and  Wicks; 
restored,  36;  baptized,  129;  membership,  909. 

In  1880,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Rahn,  Wicks,  and 
Simms;  baptized,  36;  membership,  944. 


204     ^^^   FIRST  COLORED    BAPTIST  CHURCH 

In  1881,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Rahn,  and  Rivers; 
bajitized,  10 ;  membership,  925. 

In  1882,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston  and  Rivers ;  restored, 
30;  baptized,  153;  membership,  1114. 

In  1883,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Simms,  Wicks,  Rahn, 
Rivers,  Denslow,  and  Bateman  ;  baptized,  76  ;  member- 
ship, 1172. 

In  1884,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Rahn,  Ranier,  and 
S.  D.  Green;  baptized,  51  ;  membership,  1231. 

In  1885,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  WiclvS,  Lewis,  Jack- 
son, Denslow,  Rahn,  P.  Jackson,  Foster,  Rivers,  Green, 
Gadsden,  and  Renier ;  baptized,  147 ;  membership, 
1450. 

In  1886,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Rahn,  Denslow, 
James,  Bateman,  and  S.  D.  Green;  baptized,  122; 
membership,  1512. 

In  1887,  Rev.  U.  L.  Houston,  Denslow,  Ranier, 
James,  and  Quarterman ;  restored,  181 ;  received  by 
letter,  22 ;  baptized,  322  ;  membership,  2005. 

The  great  earthquake  of  this  year  brought  in  this 
large  addition  to  the  church. 


EXTERIOR   VIEW    OF    THE    xNKU     t^ULlUU. 


Page  205. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  205 


CHAPTER    XII. 


The  work  of  rebuilding  now  went  on,  and  was 
iudustriouisly  pushed  forward.  The  old  building  had 
been  taken  down,  and  the  foundations  of  the  new  one 
were  built  up  to  a  height  of  four  feet  within  thirteen 
days.  The  work  was  done  exclusively  by  colored 
mechanics  and  laborers,  under  the  direction  of  a  white 
architect,  whose  presence  was  seldom  required.  The 
city  of  Savannah  has  ever  been  noted  for  first-class 
colored  mechanics,  especially  in  house  building. 

Materials  were  readily  furnished  on  credit,  as  the 
law  gives  a  lieu  on  the  property  to  secure  their 
payment.  Thus  all  needful  articles  were  procured 
and  the  work  continued  rapidly  onward.  The  church 
starting  out  with  strong  faith,  large  desires,  and  a  small 
cash  capital,  the  struggle  to  meet  the  requirements 
and  make  payments  when  due  was  great,  and  com- 
pelled her  members  and  friends  to  bestir  themselves, 
and  taxed  their  efforts  to  the  utmost  capacity.  Yet,  the 
will  to  do  being  in  them,  they,  by  the  help  of  God, 
found  the  way,  and  adopted  many  means  for  raising 
funds.     We  mention  the  following  as  an  example :  A 

short  historical  sketch  was  prepared   by  the  chairman 
10 


206      THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


of  the  finance  committee,  accompanied  by  an  appeal  for 
aid,  which  was  printed  and  distributed  to  the  citizens. 
Several  of  the  best-known  members  and  friends  were 
then  given  books,  with  the  name  of  the  church  printed 
thereon,  to  canvass  the  city  among  their  friends. 
As  one  set  would  come  in  and  report  their  success, 
another  would  follow.  Many  of  the  societies  of  the 
city  among  our  people  also  made  donations  from  their 
treasuries,  and  nearly  every  member  of  the  church 
contributed  such  amount  as  he  or  she  was  able.  We 
have  received  from  the  clerk  of  the  church  the  follow- 
ing itemized  statement : 

SUBSCKIBEES  PAYING  FIVE  DOLLAES  PER 
MONTH. 


U.L.  Houston $10.00 

Cato  Jackson 29.00 

J.  Julian 5.00 

T.Alston 2.00 

E.  Dudley 5.00 

L.  Rutlege 5.00 

Geo.  Mack.... 10.00 

W.  H.  Eoyal 14.00 

S.  Jones 9.00 

H.Cook 11.00 

Wm.  Sheftall 15.00 

A.  Barnard 1.00 

E.  F.  Williams 10.00 

Isaac  Bacon 6.00 

H.  E.  Brown 16.00 


J.  Bryant $4.00 

E.  Wicks 13.00 

P.  Johnson 26.00 

J.  Ancrum 2.00 

C.  Latson 34.00 

J.Candler 20.00 

H.E.Clark 19.00 

H.  E.  Eahn 17.00 

EobertHerb 6.00 

Mrs.  J.  A.  Natall 5.00 

S.Jones 14.00 

A.  T.  Jackson 23.50 

James  Beal 32.00 

Polado  Jackson 12.00 

Pulaski  Cooper 10.00 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 


207 


John  Watson $4.00 

Henrietta  Houston 6.00 

Betsey  Taylor 12.00 

Benjamin  Ralin 24.50 

J.  A.  Bee 5.00 

Wm.  Mcdsco 5.00 


W.  U.  Walker  $10.00 

Franklin  Smith 6.00 

James  M.  Simms 27.50 

Moses  Ferrill 15.00 

Wm.  Carter 5.00 

Jack  Holms 6.00 


SUBSCEIBEPvS   PAYING  FOUll   DOLLARS   PER 
MONTH. 

Wade  Collins $14.00  j  John  Johnson $7.75 

March  Roberts 6.00 


SUBSCRIBERS   PAYING  THREE  DOLLARS   PER 
MONTH. 
Elizabeth  Edv $16.60 


Henrietta  Houston. 

Betsey  Taylor 

Samuel  Ryals , 

H.  Cooper 

Dolly  Cooper 

Henry  Gordon 


Henry  Mongin $2.00 

Daniel  Gadsden 28.00 

Benjamin  Eahn 24.50 

Louisa  Murry 5.50 

Isaac  Quarterman 20.50 

David  Watters 3.50 


5.00 
12.00 
5.75 
3.00 
3.00 
2.00  i  Robert  Harris. 


4.00 


SUBSCRIBERS   PAYING  TWO   DOLLARS   PER 
MONTH. 


D.  Benjamin $21.00 

S.  Baker 3.50 

Nancy  Rahn 8.00 

Lizzie  King 1  00 


Laura  Small.. 
J.  R.  Allen.... 
Lizzie  Noble. 


2.00 
2.00 
4.00 


l^oWy  Rivers 7.00 


Celia  Gardner. 


4.00 


Jane  Burroughs $18.00 

Ellen  Williams 4.00 

Nancy  Pierce 3.00 

Melia  Murry 13.00 

Louisa  Parker 18.00 

Mary  Cooper 2.00 

Sarah  Mayes 12.00 

Julia  Gibbs 17.00 

Julia  Rahn 8.00 


208     '^^^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


Lewis  Thomas $9.00 

Mary  Ann  Wicks 50 

Miley  Jackson 8.50 

Silvia  Keid 2.00 

Charlotte  Goodwin 25 

Stephen  Kiley 8.00 

Harriet  Riley 5.00 

Howard  Williams 2.00 

Noble  Gray 2.00 

Susan  Houston 

Ellen  Rahn 

Charlotte  Dallas 

Mary  Ann  Roberts.. 
James  Candler 


2.00 
3.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
Peggy  Porter 12.00 


Emma  Tolbert $4.00 

Oliver  Foster 3.00 

R.  Stord 10.00 


G.  Wright 

John  Bruen .... 
Adam  Sheftall. 
Susan  Gardner. 


....  7.50 

...  9.00 

.25 

....  2.00 

Sarah  Sayers 18.00 

Mariah  Hargraves 8.00 

Eugenia  Hooker 20.00 

Margaret  Candler 10.00 

Francis  Stard 8.50 

Edward  Stevens 12.00 

J.  L   James 2.00 

By  Cash 2.30 


SUBSCRIBERS   PAYING   ONE   DOLLAR   PE 
MONTH. 


Sarah  Wallace 

..     $5  00 

Addel  Williams 

$2  00 

Sarah  Wadley 

Ellen  Houston 

.       2.60 

Ana  James 

1.00 

..       1.00 

Jane  Naylor 

5.85 

..       3.00 

1.50 

Molly  Rahn 

..       9.00 

Lucy  Price 

11.00 

Rebecca  Burroughs 

..       8.00 

Lizzie  Haywood 

3.50 

Harriet  Vandross   

..       1.00 
..       2.00 

Martha  A.  Burroughs.. 
Francis  Erwin 

1  00 

Antoine  Genelatt...^.... 

4.50 

M.  Grate 

..       1.00 
..     12.00 
..       4.00 
..     10.00 

Dolly  Houston 

C.  Bullock 

Elizabeth  Edv  

3.00 

Rebecca  Golden 

4.00 

Ellen  Ancrum 

1  00 

Tama  Thomas 

Sarah  Goldsmith 

4.00 

Laura  Dudley 

..       5.00 
3  65 

Juber  Williams 

2.00 

TT.liVnKptli   Willinmq 

Charlotte  Cook    

4  00 

Rebecca  Havwood 

..       4.00 

Mary  Sinirleton 

.       8.00 

IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 


209 


Dolly  Scott $2.00 

Diana  Sneed 50 

KoseHarley 2.00 

Harriet  Quartorman 0.00 

Mahale  Miller 4.00 

Martha  Simpson 4.50 

Lucinda  Williams 6.00 

Rachel  Daniel 5.00 

Harriet  Butler 1.00 

Elizabeth  Williams COO 

Grace  Hicks 2.00 

Jane  Sneed 5.55 

F.  Johnson 1.00 

Eve  Walters 8.00 

Lavinia  Law 3.50 

Ellen  Candler 4.00 

Julia  Moore 2.00 

Judy  Winn 4.-50 

Martha  Prentice 8.75 

Alice  Fergueson 4.00 

Betsey  Coachman 3.75 

Isabella  Burns 11.50 

Hannah  Davis 10.00 

Eliza  Crawford 5.00 

Charlotte  Turner 2.00 

Dolly  Hampton G.OO 

Dora  Drayton 50 

Mahale  Francis 4.50 

Abby  Thomas G.OO 

Anna  Golden 3.00 

S.Jefferson 1.00 

Cooper 2.00 

Cloe  Powell 9.75 


I  Minnie  Hooker $10.00 

Sally  Anderson 2.00 

Lydia  Benjamin 3.00 

Fanny  Brown 1.00 

Polly  Benje 11.00 

Rhoda  Reed 3.00 

Ana  C.Floyd 7.00 

Mary  Lewis  3.00 

By  Cash 1.50 

Eve  Reed 5.00 

Dora  Pooler 9.00 

RosaGoodwin 3.00 

Nancy  Hamilton 4.00 

Miuty  Coachman 5.85 

Hettie  Cooper 1.00 

I.  Brown 1.00 

Sarah  Logan 10.00 

Delia  Burns 1.00 

Sibby  Gibbs 18.00 

Hetty  Brown 6.00 

Charity  Jackson 6.00 

Margaret  Smith 3.00 

Molly  Harris 3.00 

Mariah  Glen 1.00 

Florence  A.  Lewis 1.00 

Frances  Mosman 1.00 

Judy  C.  White 1.00 

Rose  Adams 4.00 

Tena  O'Neal 1.00 

Delia  Grant 1.00 

J.  A.  Wicks 1.50 

C.  Logan 2.00 

Sarah  Johnson 1.25 


210     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


Susan  Bryant $10.00 

Julia  Butler 2.50 

L.  W.  Cooper 2.00 

Georgiana  Stiles 50 

Mariah  Johnson 2.00 

A.Watson 1.00 

Anette  Gibbons 5.00 

Amelia  Morell 2.00 

AgieMcDane 2.00 

Jane  Perkins 5.00 

P.Johnson 4.00 

Kebecca  Young 1 .00 

Harriet  V.  Calhoun 1.00 

Selena  Bead 6.60 

M.  Norman 7.00 

Patsey  Barnard 1.50 

Carrie  Jackson 1.00 

Martha  Thompson 4.40 

Sinda  Hawkins 12.00 

Fanny  Simpson 1.00 

Mary  E.  Dean 2.00 

Mary  Gadsden 8.00 

Mary  Morten 2.00 

Betty  Koyal 2.00 

Sue  Gardner 2.00 

Virginia  "Williams 1.00 

C.F.Logans 1.00 

Fanny  Smith 1.00 

Betty  Butler 1.15 

Mary  Bedding 100 

Emma  Harris 9.75 

Sarah  Gardner 1.50 

Adaline  Williams 3.00 


Francis  Jackson 

$2.00 

6.00 

Mary  Fer^urson 

3  00 

Grace  Jackson 

2.00 

10.00 

Phcebe  Smith 

4.00 

Juno  Fry 

3.00 

1.90 

Edward  Ferehe 

2.00 

John  Armstrong 

1.00 

J.  S.  Habersham 

1.00 

Master  Thomas  Ferebe. 

2.00 

D.  Miller 

7.50 

E  A.  Stiles.. 

1.00 

S.  Grant 

1.50 

1.30 

F   B   Gadsden     

10  00 

R  D   Bivens 

1  00 

James  Bithford 

2.00 

Charles  Frances 

5.00 

Isaiah  McCall 

2.00 

2.00 

3.00 

Beniamin  Henry    

2  00 

Edward  Gass 

1.00 

Isaac  Henly 

4.00 

Robert  Black             

3.00 

Benjamin  Cooper 

2.00 

Eugene  Lewis 

1.00 

Johnson  Bick 

10.00 

Sampson  Whitfield 

2.00 

Henry  Vance 

.50 

Syrus  Allen 

1.00 

IN   NORTH  AMERICA. 


211 


David  Slee $1.00] 

Willie  Grant 50 

James  I.  Davis 1.00 

Isaac  Righton 5.00 

James  Fletcher 1.00 

Joseph  Brown 50 

Ellick  Rivers 1.00 

James  Alston 1.00 

By  Cash 5.49 

H.  McPherson 4.75 

Julius  Maxwell 1.75 

T.  C.  Jackson 1.00 

By  Cash 2.10 

Andrew  Naylor 1.00 

Johnson  Grant 1.00 

Renty  Butler 2.00 

S.Butler 25 

Lonon  Mack 50 

Henry  Holmes 50 

R.  Smith 50 

James  Young 1.25 


N.  Green  and  Wife 

A.  Mcintosh 

D.  Lambert 

P.  McPherson  and  Wife. 

C.  Sebury 

R.  Holmes 

Marion  Roberts 

H.  Golden 

Samuel  Green 

J.  Willet 

J.  McClue 

From  White  Visitors... 

Cuffee  Brown 

F.  Jones 

S.Yates 

E.  Williams 

Edward  Green 

Simon  Shelmon 

John   Johnson 

J.  Lewis 


$2.00 
4.20 
1.00 
1.35 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
.50 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
7.50 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
5.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 


MONEY  RECEIVED  FROM  VARIOUS  SOURCES. 


St.  Martin's  Society 
(male),  per  K.  S. 
Thomas,  President....  $11.00 

Benevolent  Sons  of  Sa- 
vannah, James  Flem- 
ming.  President,  D. 
L.  Yeomans,  Secre- 
tary      25.00 

Nightingale  Association , 
per    Paul     Reynold.*, 


Secretary 10.00    Rising     Daughters     of 


Wrestling  Jacob  Asso- 
ciation, John  Jackson, 
President,  E.  Wicks, 
Secretary ^.  |25.00 

Female  Progressive  As- 
sociation, J.  Jackson, 
President,  Josephine 
Radcliff,  Secretary....     15.00 

Benevolent  Sisters,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Box,  President.     10.00 


212     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 


Africa,  Mrs.  S,  Box, 
President $5.00 

Ladies'  Galatian  So- 
ciety, Mrs.  S.  Box, 
President 70.00 

Connected  with  the  Sec- 
ond Church,  the  La- 
dies' Christian  Asso- 
ciation, Mrs.  Margaret 
Millidie,  President, 
Mr.  Henry  Feilds,  Sec- 
retary      10.00 

From  the  Ogeechee  Bap- 
tist Church,  contrib- 
uted at  sundry  times.     60.00 

Collection  from  a  ser- 
mon preached  by  this 
pastor  at  St.  Philip's 
Church  while  under 
Kev.  H.  M.  Turner...     60.00 

The  Daughters  of  Light, 
Sister  Dolly  Jack- 
son, President,  Nan- 
cy Pearce,  Treasurer, 
Kev.  H.  K.  Kahn,  Sec- 
retary, for  putting  gas- 
pipes  through  the 
church 180.00 

And  donated  in  cash 47.00 

Daughters  of  Light  Club, 

for  column  branches.     84.00 

Daughters  of  Nehemiah , 
different  times,  Sister 


Dolly  Jackson,  Presi- 
dent  $123.00 

Sabbath  School  for  lay- 
ing the  corner-stone, 
Wm.  Rivers,  Superin- 
tendent      27.00 

And  from  Tableaux 6.17 

And  roofing  the  build- 
ing      20.00 

From  the  Deacons'  Ex- 
cursion to  Beaufort, 
cash 230.40 

From  Mrs.  C.  A.  Price 
and  other  ladies,  two 
suppers 30.49 

Bryan   Christian  Union 

Association 5.10 

Deacon      P.     Jackson's 

Stevedore  Gang 14.00 

Rev.  Q.  Frazer's  Isle  of 
Hope  (people's  list)....     16.00 

Sisters  of  Charity  of  this 

church 36.70 

Sister  Mary  Foster,  from 

a  supper 29.00 

From  the  Pastor's  So- 
ciety        6.00 

Brother  Gadsden,  from 
Isle  of  Hope 7.22 

The  Old  Sisters'  Associa- 
tion, to  put  in  the 
pulpit  window 35.00 

Bryan  Mutual  Aid   So- 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA. 


213 


ciety,  Fredrick  Jones, 
President,  William 
Golden,  Treasurer, 
Frank  Lawrence,  Sec- 
retary  $190.00 

From  the  captains  of 
the  separate  squads, 
who  put  lights  and 
blinds  in  ten  windows, 
at$20.00 each  window, 
aggregate 200.00 

The  communion  set  hav- 
ing been  stolen  in 
the  late  division,  the 
wives  of  the  deacons, 
by  their  united  efforts, 
in  ten  days  replaced 
them  with  a  new  set, 
consisting  of  six  bread- 
baskets, six  cups,  and 
three  goblets,  all  of 
silver,  at  a  cost  of 85.00 

A   supper   from   sisters. 


23.00 


43.1i 


Mrs.N.  Pearcc,  mana- 
ger   $12.50 

Sister  Julia  Costen,  from 
a  supper 

A  sunflower  festival, 
Mrs.  Ellen  Rahn,  man- 
ager  

Sisters  Eugenia  Hooker 
and  Dora  Poaler,  stone 
and  inscription  over 
the  front  door,  at  a 
cost  of 15.00 

First  Bryan  Baptist 
Church  Nickel  Club, 
SisterEugenia  Hooker, 
President,  Sister  Dia- 
na Rivers,  Secretary, 
for  furnishing  the 
pulpit 10250 

Memorial  Stone  to  the 
memory  of  Rev.  A. 
Bryan,  by  the  Nickel 
Club 25.00 


The  foregoing  is  simply  an  approximation  of  the 
moneys  secured  in  the  several  different  ways  snggested 
by  tiie  fertile  brain  of  the  pa.stor  to  the  members  who 
raised  the  means  to  build  the  church.  While  all  were 
interested  and  impressed  with  the  burden  of  this  work, 
the  greatest  part  of  the  responsibility  devolved  upon 
their  under-shepherd  of  Christ,  who  fully  proved 
10* 


214     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

himself  equal  to  tlie  occasion ;  and  as  a  wise  master- 
builder  was  always  foremost  in  suggesting  new 
methods  for  gathering  necessary  means  as  soon  as  those 
already  utilized  seemed  unavailing,  and  so  the  church, 
as  it  should,  drew  supplies  from  many  sources, — 
churches,  societies,  civil  and  military  organizations,  in- 
dividuals, white  and  colored  members  of  her  own  body, 
and  of  sister  churches.  They  all,  individually  and  col- 
lectively, contributed  to  her  aid  in  this  great  work  and 
came  to  her  relief  when  compelled  to  contract  debts ; 
for  with  all  these  several  resources  from  which  she 
drew,  the  means  did  not  accumulate  sufficiently  to 
meet  the  demands,  and,  therefore,  with  much  regret, 
the  trustees  were  called  upon  to  borrow  money  from 
several  institutions  and  individuals  to  meet  the  pay- 
ment of  bills  when  due,  in  order  to  save  the  credit  of 
the  church. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  amount  bor- 
rowed and  the  sources  from  which  it  was  obtained  : 
From  the  Alabama  State  Life  Insurance  Company, 
$1000,  at  ten  per  cent,  per  annum ;  from  F.  Harty, 
$500,  at  seven  per  cent,  for  ninety  days;  from  the 
Chatham  Mutual  Loan  Association,  on  twenty  shares  of 
stock  purchased,  $4000 ;  from  the  Savannah  Bank  and 
Trust  Company,  $1000,  at  seven  per  cent,  per  annum ; 
all  of  which  was  paid  up  when  due,  according  to  their 
obligations.     The  church  as  a  committee  of  the  whole, 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  215 

with  the  pastor  as  chairman  directing  their  actions, — 
and  at  periods  mortgaging  his  personal  property  for 
security, — met  every  debt.  A  committee  of  the  church, 
comprising  the  pastor,  deacons,  and  trustees,  was 
appointed  to  make  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
receipts,  disbursements,  and  indebtedness  soon  after  the 
building  was  up  and  enclosed  sufficient  for  temporary 
use,  who  made  the  following  report : 

REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  FOR  SIX 
YEARS  AND  EIGHT  MONTHS,  ENDING  DECEM- 
BER 28,  1879,  ON  THE  FINANCIAL  AFFAIRS  OF 
THE   FIRST   BRYAN    BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

Savannah,  April  30,  1880. 

To  THE  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church  : 
Dkar  Brethren, — Your  committee  of  pastor,  deacons,  and 

trustees  would  beg  leave  to  report,  in  conclusion  : 

That  our  last  report  of  progress  showed  that  the  cost 

of  the  building,  so  far  as  done,  was $8,290.10 

The  amount  paid  thereon 7,826.42 

The  balance  due  upon  the  same $463.68 

We  have  found,  on  further  examination,  that  for  the 
period  of  six  years  and  eight  months, — the  time 
covered  by  your  resolution  appointing  us, — com- 
mencing with  April  27,  1873,  and  closing  with 
December  28,  1879,  that  in  that  time  the  whole 
amount  of  money  received  and  disbursed  by  the 
oflBcers  of  the  church  and  the  Finance  and  Build- 
ing Committees  is,  in  total 15,512.89 

Contributions  from  all  sources  for  the  benefit  of  the 
church    (principally  by  its  members,    but  a  con- 


216     I'SR   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

siderable  portion  from  a  generous  public,  and  by 
friends  of  the  church,  with  private  enterprises  of 
some  members  and  their  friends,  by  excursions, 
from  societies,  from  suppers,  lectures,  tableaux, 
picnics,  concerts,  and  fairs) $1,026.86 

Then  there  is  to  be  taken  away  from  the  aggregate 
also  the  amount  borrowed  from  the  Chatham  Mu- 
tual Loan  Association 1,884.50 

Actual  cash  received  out  of  a  call  for 4,000.00 

The  premium  paid  on  this  amount  under  rule 2,115.50 

Making  a  total  from  the  two  sources  alone  named, 

not  directly  money  contributed  by  the  church 2,911.36 

This  leaves  as  the  real   amount  contributed  by  the 

church 12,601.53 

Being  an  average  of  about  for  each  year 2,200.00 

However,  the  largest  portion  of  this  amount  was 
contributed  by  the  church  in  the  years  1873  and 
1874, — the  active  years  of  their  building  the  new 
edifice, — and  was  used  for  that  purpose  principally, 
and  the  other  expenses  of  the  church,  including  the 
pastor's  salary,  in  part. 

These  moneys  have  been  received  and  paid  out  by  the 
following-named  oflScers  of  the  church,  whose  ac- 
counts have  been  audited  by  us,  and  found  correct 
as  far  as  was  possible  for  us  to  ascertain  the  facts, 
the  record  in  some  instances  being  imperfect,  some- 
what;  as,  for  instance,  during  the  treasurership  of 
our  Brother  Denslow,  he  being  unable  to  record  for 
himself  his  receipts  and  disbursements ;  yet  there 
appears  no  doubt  of  his  having  really  fulfilled  his 
duty  as  faithfully  as  his  abilities  would  make  it 
possible.  He  received  and  paid  from  April,  1873, 
to  December,  1876 3,537.29 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  217 

There  was  also  received  by  Elder  Sininis  from  Sep- 
tember, 1873,  to  Februarj',  1877,  as  the  chairman  of 

Finance  Committee,  and  paid $0,856.26 

And  by  Deacon  liahn,  as  treasurer,  from  Decem- 
ber, 1876,  to  December,  1879,  and  paid 5,044.60 

All,  or  very  nearly  all,  the  money  paid  out  for  build- 
ing purposes  has  been  paid  under  the  order  of  the 
pastor.  Elder  Houston,  as  chairman  of  the  Building 
Committee,  except  a  very  small  portion,  which  was 
disbursed  by  him  directly,  paid  by  clerk  or  deacons, 
not  having  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  treasu- 
rer or  the  Finance  Committee 74.74 

This  makes  up  the  full  receipts  and  disbursements 15,512.89 

as  has  been  accounted  for  by  the  respective  oflBcers 
of  the  church. 

From  the  whole  or  aggregate  amount  received  there 
have  been  paid  the  pastor  upon  his  salary,  from 
May  4,  1873,  to  December  28,  1879 1,659.93 

Collected  from  the  members,  paid  to  the  treasurer 
by  the  clerk,  and  paid  to  the  pastor  from  the  treasu- 
rer. What  has  been  collected  for  each  and  every 
month  of  that  lime  has  been  duly  shown  upon  the 
records  and  admitted  by  the  pastor  ;  there  is  this 
exception,  that  in  the  year  1878,  by  his  agreement, 
he  collected  his  salary  himself  directly  from  the 
members,  and  got  for  that  year  |209.05,  which  year 
the  church  was  relieved  from  the  then  existing  con- 
tract of  paying  the  pastor  fifty  dollars  per  month, 
which  would  amount  to  six  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
Thus  the  amounts  received  each  year  and  paid  him 
as  part  only  of  his  salary  were, — 

For  the  year  1873,  eight  months 265.48 

"  1874,  twelve  months 310.81 


218     THE  FIRST  COLORED    BAPTIST  CHURCH 

For  the  year  1875,  twelve  months $249.99 

"  1876,  twelve  months 250.90 

"  1877,  twelve  months 91.97 

"  1878,  twelve  months* 

"  1879,  twelve  months 416.04 

And  from  sundry  collections  as  stated 74.74 

Making  the  total  of  all  received 1,659.93 

By  his  contract  of  six  hundred  dollars  per  year,  for 

five  years  and  eight  months,  is 3,400.00 

Deducting  then  from  this  amount  the  ahove  will 

leave  a  balance  actually  due  him  of. 1,740.07 

This  is  the  actual  showing  from  the  books. 
There  is,  we  also  find,  due  to  the  Loan  Association,  of 
which  we  ai-e  members,  a  monthly  back  due  since 

1878  of 250.00 

For  which  is  paid  each  month  as  interest 2.80 

And  since  that  time  a  further  back  due  of  1879 120.00 

Being  three  months,  making  total  back  dues 370.00 

On  which  is  being  paid  each  month  as  interest  and 

fines 4.20 

(This  amount  of  dues  should  be  taken  up,  if  possible, 
before  any  other  after  Mr.  Walker's  debt,  to  stop  this 
further  tax  upon  the  resources  of  the  church.) 
To  recapitulate  the  whole  by  the  foregoing  statement 
and  figures  is, — 

Whole  amount  collected,  six  years  eight  months 15,512.89 

Paid  for  building  purposes  the  same  period 7,826.42 

Paid  to  pastor  as  past  salary 1,659.93 

Paid  for  all  other  church  purposes  and  dues  to  As- 
sociation       6,026.54 

*  There  was  nothing  collected  to  his  account,  but  there  was  paid  him 
from  the  treasury  by  Rahn  $74.74,  to  be  deducted  from  $1740.07. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  219 

And  there  are  due  on  the  building  yet,  as  represented  $463.68 

Also  to  the  pastor  to  January  1,  1880 1,740.07 

Also  back  dues  to  Loan  Association 370.00 

This    being    exclusive    of    the    monthly  dues,    thus 
making  an  actual  indebtedness  of  the  church,  the 

most  due  the  pastor 2,573.75 

From  the  somewhat  unclerical  manner  of  the  accounts,  which 
we  have  examined  thoroughly,  we  have  been  very  naturally  de- 
tained in  our  report ;  but  we  will  plead  for  this  delay  that  the 
most  thorough  investigation  has  been  made  of  all  these  ac- 
counts, and  as  critical  report  made  herein  as  was  possible;  and 
respectfully  suggest  that  this  report  be  made  the  basis  of  a 
financial  ledger,  in  which  shall  be  recorded  separately  each 
future  monthly,  quarterly,  and  yearly  report,  that  in  future  the 
financial  condition  of  the  church  may  be  more  readily  ascer- 
tained. And  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the  officers  who  have  ex- 
clusively the  secular  affairs  of  the  church  in  their  keeping  to  see 
to  this  matter  whenever  a  report  is  made,  although  it  is  the 
right  of  the  church  or  any  member  to  inquire  into  and  insist 
that  this  be  done,  that  the  generations  to  come  after  us  may 
know  where  to  find  the  oldest  church  of  our  race  and  denomina- 
tion in  this  State. 

Most  respectfully  submitted, 

JAMES   M.    SIMMS,   Chairman, 
DAVID   WATTERS, 
QUIVES   FRAZER, 

Board  of  Trustees. 
Appended.— In  the  account  of  Treasurer  Rahn  we  find  that 
in  his  account  for  three  years,  up  to  January  1,  1880,  he  paid  out 
thirty-six  dollars  and  fifty-five  cents  more  than  his  receipts. 

JAMES   M.  SIMMS, 

Chair?na}i, 


220     I'BE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Since  then  they  have  continued  their  efforts  up  to 
the  completion  of  the  building  as  it  now  stands. 
The  outer  dimensions  are :  length,  75  feet ;  breadth, 
56  feet ;  height  from  the  foundation  to  the  peak  of 
the  roof,  45  feet ;  with  a  belfry  above  containing 
a  bell.  On  the  inside  the  distance  from  the  floor 
to  the  ceiling  is  26  feet;  a  spacious  gallery  occu- 
pies three  sides,  which,  with  its  lower  audience-room, 
gives  a  seating  capacity  of  about  1500  persons.  It 
cost,  in  round  numbers,  about  $30,000,  not  incloding 
an  organ,  valued  at  |1350, — all  paid  for  excepting  the 
latter  (now  [1888]  being  placed  in  position),  which  will 
be  when  it  is  completed  according  to  contract. 

The  church  in  1885  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Convention  of  Georgia,  of  which  she  is  a  con- 
stituent member,  notifying  them  of  her  approaching 
centennial.  The  Convention,  upon  considering  the 
subject,  resolved  to  celebrate  the  planting  of  a  Baptist 
cliurch  one  hundred  years  coming  (1888)  with  becom- 
ing ceremonies,  and  chose  Savannah,  where  the  church, 
was  constituted,  as  the  place  for  the  meeting.  The 
church  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  that  body  requested 
that  their  church  should  be  the  headquarters  of  the 
centennial  committee  on  that  occasion,  and  her  monu- 
mental edifice  built  with  the  especial  intention  of  com- 
memorating the  fathers,  and  showing  gratitude  to  God 
for  her  glorious  deliverance    from    moral   as  well    as 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  221 

spiritual  bondage  within  this  century,  tliey  were  also 
requested  to  dedicate  to  his  praise.  And  the  Conven- 
tion which  met  at  Brunswick,  Georgia,  in  May,  1887, 
set  apart  a  day  in  June,  1888,  for  that  purpose,  as  the 
time  best  suited  to  the  gathering  of  the  large  number 
of  Baptists  and  their  friends  from  over  the  State  and 
country.  While  this  seemed  best  to  them  under  the 
existing  circumstances  of  our  people,  the  church  also 
feeling  unwilling  that  the  date  of  the  original  organ- 
ization, so  precious  to  her  memory,  should  pass  un- 
noticed, held  a  special  service  on  the  evening  of  Jan- 
uary 20,  1888,  commemorative  of  that  blessed  event, 
and  ordained  Brethren  J.  L.  James  and  J,  H.  Bate- 
man  to  the  ministry,  and  Brethren  Hosea  Green,  Ben- 
jamin H.  Renier,  and  Daniel  B.  Gadsden  as  additional 
deacons  of  the  church,  after  the  following  programme : 

1.  Organ  Prelude.     By  Professor  S.  B.  Morse. 

2.  Invocator}^  Prayer.     By  Kev.  J.  D.  Gibb. 

3.  Thanksgiving  Anthem.     By  the  Choir. 

4.  Reading  Epitome  of  First  Church  History.     By  Rev.  J.  M. 

SIMMS. 

5.  Hymn  by  the  Congregation.     From   Ret.  "William  Mor- 

rison. 

6.  Address  to  the  Throne  of  Grace  for  Past  Mercies.     By  Rev. 

Richard  Webb. 

7.  Special  Remarks.    From  Revs.  J.  E.  L.  Holmes  and  Rich- 

ard Webb. 

8.  Anthem  of  Praise.     By  the  Choir. 

9.  Reading  of  the  Scriptures.     By  Rev.  Andrew  Neyle. 

10.  Hymn  by  the  Congregation.     From  Rev.  F.  Washington. 

11.  Ordination  Services.    By  all  the  Ministers  of  the  Presbytery. 

12.  Doxology  and  Benediction.     By  Rev.  J.  L.  James. 


222      ^^^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

The  building  was  filled  to  overflowing;  the  services 
were  grand,  impressive,  and  orderly  in  the  highest 
degree,  and  seemed  to  meet  the  approval. of  the  most 
high  God  in  its  solemnity  and  perfect  success,  and  from 
men  by  the  commendation  of  people  and  of  press. 

And  now,  considering  what  has  been  accomplished 
by  our  predecessors  laboring  in  the  vineyard  of  our 
Lord,  to  whom  he  intrusted  this  glorious  inheri- 
tance, his  kingdom  of  grace  below ;  what  they  have 
suffered  for  him ;  what  they  have  achieved  for  his 
glory  and  our  good,  struggling  in  the  darkness  of  the 
last  closing  century  and  the  early  glimmering  and 
later  glowing  brightness  of  this  in  which  we  succeed 
and  have  been  so  wonderfully  blessed,  shall  we  not 
live  and  labor  to  build  a  structure  of  other  human 
benefits  as  a  crowning  victory  of  their  hopes  and 
prayers,  and  an  adornment  to  the  gospel  of  Christ 
and  our  Christian  religion  by  closer  unity  as  a  race, 
a  denomination,  a  peculiar  people,  especially  favored 
by  God,  one  in  every  common  interest,  in  the  blend- 
ing together  of  our  resources,  for  the  glory  of  Christ 
and  the  building  up  of  each  other,  seeing  that  by  the 
conversion  of  one  man  and  three  women  of  our  race 
a  church  grew  and  flourished  to  the  present  day,  out 
of  its  prayers,  sufferings  and  labors?  Our  blessings 
have  come,  which  we  now  enjoy  only  in  part,  though 
the  higher  and  holier  joys  eternal  yet  await  us  above ; 


IN  NORTH   AMERICA.  223 

and  out  of  tliis  one  church  builded  as  a  temple  to  God 
so  many  others  have  come.  Jesus  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church  has  truly  said  that  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are 
the  branches."  We  note  the  branching  out  from  this 
older  graft :  the  Second  Colored  Church  in  the  year 
1802;  the  Ogeechee  Church  in  1803.  Branching  again 
from  the  Second,  the  First  African  Church  at  Philadel- 
phia, organized  by  Rev.  Henry  Cunningham,  with 
twelve  members  dismissed  from  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  that  city.  Dr.  Henry  Holcombe,  pastor,  and  whose 
influence  called  Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham  to  that  work. 
This  church  was  constituted  in  1809;  the  Abercorn 
and  White  Bluff  in  1831,  the  First  African  going  out 
from  this  old  plant  in  1832  ;  Drakey  (now  White  Oak) 
in  1836;  Oakland  in  1848;  Clifton  out  of  the  First 
African  in  1849  ;  Skidaway  branch  from  White  Bluff 
in  1850;  St.  Mary's,  branch  from  the  Second  Colored, 
in  1850;  Bethlehem,  branch  from  First  African,  in 
1860  ;  St.  Catharine's,  branch  directly  from  this  old 
church,  in  1862  ;  and  the  First  Bryan,  West  Broad 
and  Waldberg  Streets,  going  out  in  1872  ; — all  of  which 
are  bringing  forth  fruit  for  God  in  their  fields  of  labor 
and  usefulness.  Some  of  them  were  organized  by  our 
white  brethren,  missionaries,  yet  each  from  members 
of  some  of  the  colored  churches,  dismissed  under  their 
direction,  and  so  connectively  to  this  first  branch  of 
God's  right   hand   planting,  known   originally  as   the 


224     7^^^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

First  Colored  Baptist  Church,  and  in  these  later  days 
as  the  First  Bryan  Baptist  Church,  whose  God  is 
"glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  won- 
ders," for  her  and  with  her  in  this  world,  his  king- 
dom of  grace  below,  and  to  whom  be  "  blessing,  and 
glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honor,  and 
power,  and  might,  unto  our  God ;  and  unto  the  Lamb 
for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

The  present  (1888)  officers  of  the  church  are: 

Pastor. — Rev.  Ulysses  L.  Houston. 

Deacons. — Honorary  Brethren  Grant,  Simpson,  Haz- 
zard,  McPherson. 

Active. — William  Rivers,  Edward  Wicks,  George 
B.  Lewis,  Amos  Denslow,  Henry  R.  Rahn,  Oliver 
Foster,  Hosea  Green,  Benjamin  H.  Renier,  Daniel  B. 
Gadsden,  John  W.  Black,  Lewis  Holmes,  W.  H. 
Royal,  Moses  AVhite. 

Trustees. — Rev.  James  M.  Simms,  Rev.  David  Wat- 
ters.  Deacon  George  B.  Lewis. 

Treasurer. — Deacon  Daniel  B.  Gadsden. 

Cler-Jc. — Deacon  Edward  Wicks. 

The  membership  is  over  two  thousand. 


<    - 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  225 


COVENANT,  CONSTITUTION,  AND  BY-LAWS. 


COVENANT. 

Having  been,  as  we  trust,  brought  by  divine  grace 
to  embrace  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  give  our- 
selves wholly  to  Him,  we  do  now  solemnly  and  joyfully 
covenant  with  each  other,  to  walk  together  in  Him 
with  brotherly  love,  to  his  glory  as  our  common  Lord : 
we  do,  therefore,  in  His  strength  engage  : 

That  we  will  exercise  a  Christian  care  and  watch- 
fulness over  each  other,  and  faithfully  warn,  exhort, 
and  admonish  each  other  as  occasion  may  require. 

That  we  will  not  forsake  the  assembling  ourselves 
together,  but  will  uphold  the  public  worship  of  God, 
and  the  ordinances  of  His  house.  That  we  will  not 
omit  closet  and  family  worship  at  home,  nor  neglect 
the  great  duty  of  religiously  training  our  children, 
and  those  under  our  care,  for  the  service  of  Christ  and 
the  enjoyment  of  heaven. 

That,  as  we  are  the  light  of  the  world  and  the  salt 
of  the  earth,  we  will  seek  divine  aid  to  enable  us  to 
deny  ungodliness  and  every  worldly  lust,  and  to  walk 


226     '^^E   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

circumspectly  in  the  world,  that  we  may  win  the 
souls  of  men. 

That  we  will  cheerfully  contribute  of  our  property, 
according  as  God  has  prospered  us,  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  faithful  and  evangelical  ministry  among  us,  for 
the  support  of  the  poor,  and  to  spread  the  gospel  over 
the  earth. 

That  we  will,  in  all  conditions,  even  till  deatk,  strive 
to  live  to  the  glory  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  out  of 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  light. 

And  may  the  God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from 
the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd 
of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant,  make  us  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do 
His  will,  working  in  us  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in 
His  sight.  Through  Jesus'  Christ ;  to  whom  be  glory 
forever  and  ever.     Amen. 


CONSTITUTION. 

This  Church  shall  be  called  the  First  Bryan  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Savannah,  Ga.,  and  shall  consist  of 
such  persons  as  have  repented  of  their  sins  and  have 
been  baptized  according  to  the  faith  of  the  Baptist 
denomination,  and  shall  consist  of  a  Pastor,  two  or 
more  Deacons,  a  Secretary,  and  Treasurer  as  its  officers. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  227 

ARTICLES    OF    FAITH. 

We  believe  in  one  Triune  God, — the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, — in  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  depravity  of  man,  in  the  electing  love 
of  God ;  that  salvation  is  by  grace,  that  believers  are 
kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salva- 
tion ;  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  the  final 
judgment,  in  the  eternal  reward  and  punishment  of 
man ;  that  the  immersion  of  the  body  in  water  is  the 
only  Christian  baptism,  and  is  a  prerequisite  to  the 
Lord's  Supper ;  that  these  foregoing  principles  are 
the  true  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 


RULES    OF    ORDER. 

1st.  It  shajl  be  the  duty  of  the  Pastor  to  preach 
the  gospel,  watch  over  the  spiritual  condition  of  the 
Church,  and  counsel  the  members  in  love,  administer 
all  the  ordinances  of  the  Church,  preside  at  her  con- 
ferences, meetings,  and  visit  the  sick ;  and  it  shall  be 
his  privilege  to  visit  the  members,  inquiring  into  their 
spiritual  condition,  when  he  shall  deem  it  proper  or 
expedient. 

2d.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Deacons  to  assist  the 
Pastor,  to  watch  over  the  members  and  counsel  them 


228     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

in  love,  to  provide  for  the  church  and  the  wants  of 
the  poor  of  the  Church,  keep  a  correct  account  of  all 
funds  of  the  Church,  and  make  quarterly  returns  of 
receipts  and  disbursements. 

3d.  The  Clerk  shall  keep  a  correct  record  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Church  in  a  book  kept  for  that 
purpose,  and  one  also  containing  the  names  of  the 
members  with  dates  of  their  admittance,  which  at  all 
times  shall  be  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  Church 
or  any  member ;  he  shall  collect  all  dues  to  the  Church, 
paying  the  same  over  to  the  Treasurer,  and  taking  his 
receipt  for  the  same. 

4lh.  The  Treasurer  shall  take  charge  of  all  the 
funds  of  the  Church,  whether  consisting  of  moneys, 
checks,  drafts,  property  of  the  Church,  and  pay 
them  out  as  directed  by  the  Church,  keep  a  correct 
account  of  his  receipts  and  disbursements,  and  make 
annual  returns  to  the  Church,  or  oftener,  if  called  upon 
to  do  so. 

6th.  All  the  members  of  the  Church  shall  be 
subject  to  the  rules  of  the  Church,  and  partake  of  its 
temporal  and  spiritual  benefits. 

6th.  The  appointed  services  of  this  church  shall  be 
on  each  and  every  Sabbath,  and  as  often  during  the 
week  as  may  be  found  practical  or  beneficial  to  its 
members.  But  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
shall  be  administered  on  tlie  afternoon  of  the  fourth 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  220 

Sabbath  in  each  and  every  month,  meeting  at  three 
o'clock  for  the  same,  after  wh'ich,  before  adjournment, 
each  member  will  contribute  twenty-five  cents  for  de- 
fraying the  expenses  thereof,  and  providing  for  the 
poor  or  sick  members  of  the  Church,  and  public  col- 
lections may  be  taken  up  at  any  of  these  meetings, 
when  found  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Church. 


BY-LAWS. 


Article  1st.  The  regular  Church  discipline-meeting 
shall  be  held  on  the  third  Sunday  morning  in  each 
and  every  month,  at  half-past  ten  o'clock,  when  the 
punctual  attendance  of  every  member  shall  be  re- 
quired. But  a  called  or  extra  conference  may  be  held 
at  any  time,  when  necessary,  the  Pastor  and  two  or 
more  Deacons  consenting  to  the  same,  and  giving  due 
notice  to  the  members,  but,  in  the  absence  of  the  Pas- 
tor, the  Deacons  shall  call  or  hold  conferences. 

Article  2d.  All  conference  meetings  shall  be  opened 
and  closed  with  religious  services. 

Article  3d     All  persons  speaking  in  conference  shall 
first  arise  and  address  the  Moderator,  and,  in  any  re- 
11 


230     'I'HE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

marks  that  may  be  made,  due  regard  shall  be  had  for 
the  feelings  of  the  members. 

Article  Aih.  No  subject  shall  be  legally  before  the 
body  until  a  motion  to  that  effect  has  been  made  and 
seconded ;  when  the  subject  shall  be  open  for  calm, 
deliberate  discussion,  before  the  vote  upon  the  same  is 
taken. 

Article  6th.  No  person  shall  rise  to  speak  more  than 
twice  upon  the  same  motion  without  especial  permis- 
sion from  the  Moderator,  but  a  majority  of  the  votes 
in  the  meeting  may  suspend  any  rule  for  the  time 
being,  if  found  necessary. 

Article  6th.  When  a  member  is  speaking,  no  one 
shall  engage  in  audible  conversation  or  otherwise  in- 
terrupt the  meeting ;  and  if  they  do,  the  Moderator 
shall  call  them  to  order,  and  if  persisted  in,  their 
names  shall  be  taken,  and  they  be  cited  to  answer  to 
the  Church  at  some  subsequent  meeting  for  such  dis- 
order ;  and  if  they  refuse  to  give  the  Church  satisfac- 
tion, such  member  or  members  shall  be  expelled  from 
the  fellowship  of  the  Church. 

Article  7th.  If  two  members  arise  at  the  same 
time,  preference  shall  be  given  to  the  one  farthest  off 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  231 

from  the  Moderator,  but  he  may  decide  upon  the  privi- 
lege, and  any  decision  of  the  chair  may  be  subject  to 
appeal. 

Article  8th.  All  questions,  excepting  Church  fel- 
lowship, shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers present  at  the  meeting;  and  where  the  question 
involves  Church  fellowship  it  siiould  be  so  considered 
as  to  strive  to  make  the  vote  unanimous  upon  so  sacred 
a  subject. 

Article  dth.  Any  member  or  members  that  shall 
neglect  or  refuse  to  commune  with  the  Church  shall 
be  called  upou  to  give  the  reason  of  such  refusal  or 
neglect,  and  they  should  be  labored  with  to  bring  them 
back  to  their  duties;  but  if  they  still  refuse  or  neglect 
their  duties,  they  shall  be  expelled  from  the  fellowship 
of  the  Church. 

Article  iOth.  Any  member  reported  being  in  dis- 
order shall  be  waited  on  by  the  deacons  or  a  committee 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  labored  with  to  bring 
them  back  to  their  duties  in  tlie  spirit  of  meekness 
and  love;  but  if  they  are  incorrigible  they  shall  be 
expelled  from  the  Church. 

Article  Wth.  No  one  shall  be  called  or  elected  to 
the  office  of  a  Deacon  that  cannot  read  tiie  Holy  Bible. 


232     'J'HE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Article  12th.  In  cases  of  delinquent,  refractory,  or 
disorderly  members,  suitable  committees  shall  be  ap- 
pointed, whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  inquire  into  the  cases 
of  such  members,  obtaining  all  the  facts  that  can  be 
legally  had,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Church  at  the 
discipline  meetings. 

Article  ISth.  All  the  foregoing  Rules  and  By-Laws 
may  be  added  to,  altered,  or  amended  by  a  two-third 
vote  of  the  members  present,  at  two  consecutive  meet- 
ings of  the  Church. 


IN   NORTH  AMERICA.  233 


ORDER    OF    BUSINESS. 

1st.  The  members  liaving  assembled  and  religious 
services  held,  the  first  business  in  order  shall  be  to  call 
the  meeting  to  order  and  read  the  Rules. 

2d.  Read  and  confirm  the  minutes  of  the  last  or 
previous  meetings. 

3d.  Open  the  door  of  the  Church  for  the  reception 
of  members  by  letters  or  experience  or  recommendation. 

4th.  Call  for  the  report  of  committees  appointed 
at  the  last  or  previous  meetings,  or  general  committees 
of  the  Church. 

5th.  Call  for  new  business,  when  it  shall  be  in 
order  for  any  member  to  make  known  any  grievance, 
or  report  anything  coming  under  their  notice  against 
the  discipline  of  the  Church,  or  any  subject  of  interest 
or  utility. 


234     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF  THE  PASTORS. 


EEV.    ANDREW    BRYAN. 

THE   FIRST   PASTOR. 

Rev.  Andrew  Bryan  was  born  a  slave  upon  a 
plantation  near  Goose  Creek,  South  Carolina,  and  about 
twenty  miles  from  Charleston.  Nothing  is  known 
of  his  early  life  or  who  his  owners  were  at  his  birth  ; 
he  is  only  brought  into  notice  and  history  as  he  is 
born  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  only  from  his 
second  and  new  birth  do  we  know  him  and  what  has 
brought  him  so  very  prominently  before  mankind  and 
the  world.  From  his  superior  natural  qualities,  mental 
and  physical,  we  judge  that  he  has  come  from  that 
line  of  his  race  that  was  brought  from  Africa  early  in 
the  history  of  this  country  and  landed  in  Virginia, 
which  State  in  time  sold  them  to  others  of  later  set- 
tlement, especially  the  Carolinas ;  and,  of  course,  com- 
ing in  contact  with  the  civilization  of  the  whites  for  sev- 
eral generations,  were  more  enlightened  and  improved 
than  the  later  importations  of  slaves  from  that  country. 
It  is  a  part  of  history  that  the  first  slaves  in  Georgia 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  235 

came  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  most  intelligent, 
with  some  exceptions,  are  those  and  their  posterity. 
Thus,  in  the  planting  of  this  first  church  of  the  negro 
race,  the  prime  actors  and  instruments  in  tiie  hands  of 
God  we  trace  back  to  Virginia  and  South  Carolina, — 
Brother  George  Leyle  from  the  former,  and  Fathers 
Andrew  Bryan  and  Andrew  C.  Marshall,  both  from  the 
latter. 

Mr.  Bryan  in  early  life  may  have  worked  in  the 
fields  among  the  common  laborers  until  his  better 
qualities  were  developed ;  but  this  is  only  supposition, 
we  do  not  know  it.  He  might  have  been — and  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  he  was — about  the  house 
with  his  parents,  and  as  he  grew  up  became  waiter, 
etc.;  but  when  introduced  to  us,  he  was  coachman  and 
trusted  body-servant  to  his  owner,  to  whom  he  was 
sold  from  Carolina,  or  perhaps  received  as  part  of  an 
estate  by  marriage,  as  was  frequently  the  case. 

He  seems  to  have  been  of  unmixed,  pure  African 
blood,  with  a  smooth,  smiling  face,  bright  inquiring 
eyes,  and  pearly  white  teeth, — characteristics  of  the 
pure  and  best  tribes  of  Africa.  He  was  slightly 
above  the  medium  height,  had  a  finely-poised  head 
upon  broad  shoulders,  somewhat  rounded,  with  mus- 
cular limbs,  and  was  moderately  corpulent.  In  de- 
livery his  speech  was  clear  and  deliberate,  his  voice 
musical,  his  manner  in  preaching  impressive  and  per- 


236     THE  FIRST  COLORED  BAPTIST  CHURCH 

suasive.  At  times  his  soul  seemed  to  knit  itself  to 
other  souls,  and  enabled  him  to  draw  them  to  Christ 
by  his  gospel,  to  comfort  them  in  affliction,  to  strengthen 
them  when  in  trouble,  to  warn  them  when  in  danger, 
and  to  guide  them  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 
No  man  of  his  day  was  more  trusted  by  his  owners  or 
more  loved  by  his  people ;  and  he  became  then,  and 
lives  in  memory  now,  an  example  of  manhood,  purity, 
and  piety. 

All  we  know  of  his  marriage  relations  is  that  he 
had  a  wife,  Hannah  by  name,  and  that  she  must  have 
been  in  loving  harmony  and  concord  with  her  hus- 
band. As  they  went  down  in  the  water  together  and 
received  baptism,  it  is  fair  to  suppose,  as  they  received 
Christ  together,  so  walked  they  in  him.  They  had 
but  one  child,  as  we  know,  a  daughter,  from  whom 
came  the  family  of  the  Whitfields,  of  Savannah,  and 
whose  son,  Sampson  Whitfield,  was  a  representative 
of  the  church  at  times  in  the  Association,  and  died  but 
a  few  years  previous  to  this  writing,  leaving  also  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  H.  J.  Ward.  It  seems  that  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  life  his  religious  change  came  quite  late. 
How  long  he  had  been  converted  before  his  baptism 
we  do  not  know  ;  but  he  must  have  been  about  sixty 
years  of  age  when  he  was  baptized,  as  he  died  in  about 
his  ninetieth  year,  having  labored  iu  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard for  twenty-nine  years,  and  served  as  pastor  from 


/iV  NORTH  AMERICA.  937 

1788  to  1812,  twenty-four  years.  He  was  certainly  of 
a  healthy  body,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  that  blessing 
nearly  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Bryan's  style  of  preaching  must  have  been  very 
admirable,  as  some  of  the  older  ministers  of  a  later 
day,  whom  we  have  heard  preach,  often  alluded  to 
him  in  their  discourses,  and  seemed  very  desirous  to 
emulate  him.  By  the  favor  of  Almighty  God  he  was 
instrumental  in  converting  many  to  Christ  among  his 
race,  and  founded  for  them  the  greatest  institution  for 
their  good  in  the  world.  "  And  they  that  be  wise 
shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament;  and 
they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars,  for- 
ever and  ever."  And  this  truly  may  be  applied  to  his 
glorious  life  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


REV.    ANDREW    C.    MARSHALL. 

THE   SECOND   PASTOR. 

Andrew  Cox  Marshall  says  that  he  was  born  in 
the  year  1755.  His  mother,  in  determining  his  age, 
always  referred  to  the  year  of  Braddock's  defeat  by  the 
French  and  Indians.  She  was  an  unmixed  negro. 
His  father  Mas  an  Englishman,  the  overseer  upon  a 
plantation  in  South  Carolina,  where  Andrew  was  born. 
11* 


238     THE    FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

His  father  went  back  to  England,  where  he  died  soon 
after  Andrew  was  born.  He  was  sold  to  Colonial 
Governor  John  Houston,  of  Georgia,  who  died  when 
he  was  about  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Mr.  Marshall  was  twice  married,  the  first  time  when 
he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  By  his  two  marriages  he 
had  twenty  children,  only  one  of  whom  survived  him. 

Governor  Houston  bequeathed  him  his  freedom  at 
his  death,  on  account  of  having  at  one  time  saved  his 
master's  life.  The  executors  failed  to  carry  out  the 
bequest,  and  he  was  again  sold,  being  separated  from 
his  wife.  He  had  run  away  to  evade  the  decision  of 
the  executors,  and  was  bought  by  Judge  Clay  while  at 
large. 

While  in  the  service  of  Judge  Clay  he  accompanied 
his  master,  who  several  times  visited  the  Northern 
States  in  the  capacity  of  member  of  Congress,  and 
perhaps  on  other  occasions.  On  these  visits  he  was 
the  coachman,  and  was  enabled  frequently  to  see  Gen- 
eral George  Washington,  of  whom  he  was  fond  of 
relating  striking  incidents.  At  a  later  day,  when 
General  Washington  visited  Savannah,  Mr.  Marshall 
was  honored  with  the  appointment  of  body-servant  to 
the  President. 

He  was  an  eye-witness  to  many  of  the  scenes  around 
Savannah  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  had  dis- 
tinct recollections  of  General  Nathaniel  Green,  who  re- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  239 

moved  to  Savannah  in  1785,  possessed  valnable  grants 
of  land  near  the  city,  and  died  the  next  year,  June  19, 
1786.  He  frequently  gave  incidents  of  his  great 
funeral. 

Mr.  Marshall's  force  of  character  seemed  to  have 
been  chiefly  expended  on  worldly  interests  until  he 
was  about  fifty  years  of  age,  when  he  became  con- 
verted to  Christ,  and  soon  after  his  conversion  he  also 
acquired  his  freedom.  He  was  at  that  time  owned  as 
a  slave  by  Mr.  Robert  Bolton,  of  Savannah.  The 
venerable  mercantile  partner  of  Mr.  Bolton,  Mr. 
Richard  Richardson,  advanced  him  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, which,  with  what  he  had  saved  by  economy, 
enabled  him  to  purchase  his  own  freedom ;  and  by 
diligence  and  economy  he  purchased  his  whole  family, 
consisting  of  his  wife,  four  children,  his  wife's  father, 
and  his  own  stepfather. 

He  became  converted  through  the  preaching  of  a  white 
minister  in  the  Savannah  Baptist  Church  from  the 
text :  "  But  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sins." — 
John  XV.  22.  Upon  conversion  he  joined  the  Second 
Colored  Church,  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Henry 
Cunningham.  Shortly  after  that  event  he  began  to 
preach,  and  frequently  he  would  drive  his  mistress  to 
church  in  her  carriage,  then  drive  the  carriage  to  his 
own  church,  get  some  one  to  look  after  his  horses,  go 
in  and  preach  a  sermon,  leaving  the  closing  service  to 


240     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

the  pastor,  return  to  the  Episcopal  Church  with  the 
carriage,  and  drive  Mrs.  Bolton  home, — such  was  his 
anxiety  to  serve  his  heavenly  Master  after  his  new 
birth.  In  1806  he  became  the  assistant  pastor  of  the 
First  Colored  Church  under  his  uncle,  Rev.  Andrew 
Bryan.  The  church  then  had  about  one  thousand 
members.  In  his  religion  he  was  entirely  free  from 
superstition,  and  gave  no  countenance  to  marvellous 
relations  of  experience,  even  in  a  work  of  grace.  He 
could  penetrate  beneath  disguises,  and  few  men,  white 
or  black,  of  any  age  could  surpass  him  in  reading 
human  character. 

Tliere  was  a  period  of  about  two  years — from 
1819  to  1821 — when  Mr.  Marshall  became  somewhat 
unpopular  with  the  whites  of  his  denomination,  on 
account  of  his  extreme  views  of  theology  which  bor- 
dered on  antinomianism  (or  denying  the  obligation  of 
the  moral  law),  and  again,  later,  he  receded  to  the 
opposite  extreme  of  sacramentalism  in  baptism,  as 
held  by  Dr.  Alexander  Campbell. 

During  that  time,  and  while  engaged  in  his  secular 
avocations  as  a  drayman,  he  violated  the  laws  by  con- 
traband dealings  with  the  negro  slaves.  He  purchased 
from  them  without  having  tickets  with  leave  to  sell 
and  trade,  and,  though  it  was  common  for  the  whites 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  fortune  by  this  illicit  trad- 
ing, advantage  was  taken  of  Mr.  Marshall's  inadver- 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  241 

tency,  together  with  his  temporary  unpopulariiy,  and 
he  was  prosecuted  and  sentenced  to  be  wliipped  in  the 
market-place ;  but  his  kind  friend,  Mr.  Richardson, 
who  had  before  assisted  him  in  getting  his  freedom, 
with  the  sympathy  of  many  of  tlie  best  citizens  by 
whom  he  was  employed,  would  not  allow  him  to  suffer; 
and  many  of  those  who  witnessed  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  attest  that  the  whij^ping  was  only  a  semblance^ 
his  former  master  being  at  his  side  to  see  that  the  con- 
stable did  not  scratch  his  skin  or  draw  any  blood. 

Mr.  Marshall  delighted  in  alluding  to  his  uncle, 
Rev.  Andrew  Bryan,  as  a  preacher,  and  his  great 
deference  to  the  white  people;  yet  he  never  hesitated 
in  his  firm  and  respectful  declaration  of  the  rights 
of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion.  Mr.  Marshall 
owned  a  considerable  number  of  books,  and  among 
those  evidently  the  most  used  were  Br.  Gill's  com- 
mentaries. The  bent  and  tone  of  Mr.  Marshall's  mind 
were  of  the  old  Calvinistic  order.  His  clear  intellect 
was  equal  to  the  best  distinctions  of  theology.  In 
his  treatment  of  a  subject  in  some  of  his  pulpit 
performances  there  was  observable  the  grasp  of  a 
mind  which  would  be  deservedly  called  great. 

Very  often,  indeed,  in  preaching  he  intermingled 
incidents  of  his  personal  experience,  and  then  would 
seem  to  run  into  a  rambling  style,  but  even  then 
these   discursive   qualities    served    to    keep   alive   the 


242     I'SE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

attention  of  his  simple  flock.  His  voice  was  so  deep, 
sonorous,  and  tender,  that  its  capacity  for  the  expres- 
sion of  pathos  was  unsurpassed.  His  favorite  hymns 
and  selections  of  Scripture  were  sometimes  pronounced 
with  such  effect  that  the  most  highly  educated  and 
discriminating  persons  would  never  forget  the  im- 
pressions of  such  readings. 

His  appearance  was  commanding,  though  neither 
stout  nor  tall,  compared  with  the  average  of  well- 
formed  men.  His  partly  African  skin  and  hair 
were  compensated  by  a  face  of  intelligence .  superior 
to  the  limitations  of  race.  His  hair  was  of  the  clearest 
white,  and  though  leaning  to  the  African,  it  rose  in 
unwonted  profusion,  giving  him  the  presence  of  a 
venerable  patriarch.  His  teeth  were  sound  and 
beautifully  clear.  In  some  of  his  glowing  pulpit 
efforts,  his  face  an.d  whole  person  were  irradiated  with 
intelligence,  and  one  could  not  hear  him  at  such 
times  without  feeling  himself  within  the  influence 
of  a  superior  mind.  He  was  pastor  of  this  church 
from  1815  to  1832, — seventeen  years. 


7iV   NORTH  AMERICA.  243 

"EXTRACT  FROM  'ANNALS  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
PULPIT,'  BY  WM.  SPRAGUE,  D.D.  A  LETTER 
WRITTEN    BY  REV.  JOHN   M.  KREBS,  D.D.* 

"  New  York,  June  4,  1869. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — You  ask  me  for  my  recollections 
of  the  Rev.  Andrew  C.  Marshall,  the  centenarian  colored 
preacher  of  Savannah. 

"On  a  certain  Lord's  Day  in  May,  1855,  I  was  in 
Savannah  on  my  way  to  the  General  Assembly.  After 
preaching  in  the  morning  for  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Pres- 
ton, then  pastor  of  the  Independent  Presbyterian 
Church,  I  attended  in  the  afternoon,  in  company  with 
a  respected  Ruling  Elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  several  other  Christian  friends  who  were 
lodging  at  the  same  hotel  with  me,  the  worship  in  the 
African  Baptist  Church,  which  was  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  Mr.  Marshall,  celebrated  foi^his  great  age,  his 
protracted  evangelical  labors,  and  his  genuine  Chris- 
tian eloquence. 

"  On  entering  the  church,  which  was  a  neat,  sub- 
stantial structure,  accommodating,  as  I  supposed,  from 
eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  persons,  we  were  con- 
ducted to  the  pews  reserved  for  white  visitors  in  the 

*The  letter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Krebs  is  given  as  an  evidence  of  Mr. 
Marshall's  recovery  from  past  errors,  and  how  glorious  was  his 
closing  years.  He  was  by  far  the  most  highly  gifted  and  success- 
ful in  his  ministry  of  all  his  contemporaries  ;  and  so  continued  to 
his  death,  aud  full  ydeserves  the  extended  space  in  this  biography. 


244     l"^!^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

middle  tier  (immediately  in  front  of  the  pulpit),  which 
were  occupied  by  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  white 
persons.  The  house  was  crowded  in  every  part  with 
colored  people,  whose  neat  and  appropriate  dress  and 
decorous  behavior  could  not  be  surpassed  by  any  con- 
gregation. It  happened  to  be  their  communion  service, 
and  the  exercises  were  just  beginning  with  a  hymn, 
which  was  nobly  read  by  the  pastor,  and  nobly  sung 
by  the  people.  The  venerable  minister  was  seated 
under  the  pulpit  which  was  only  a  few  feet  from  us. 
His  locks  were  gray  with  age,  but  his  form  was  ap- 
parently robust,  though  the  furrows  were  in  his  cheeks. 
As  he  rose  to  offer  prayer,  he  steadied  himself  upon 
his  cane,  while  gradually  he  attained  an  erect  position, 
every  feature  and  every  limb  trembling,  it  may  be  not 
more  with  the  weight  of  years  than  with  powerful 
emotion.  The  prayer  uttered  with  clear  articulation 
and  with  strong  voice  was  somewhat  long,  but  it  was 
rich  with  Christian  thought  and  feeling,  appropriate  in 
expression,  and  attracting  the  sympathy  of  the  wor- 
shippers. The  aged  man  of  God  proceeded  with  an 
address  bearing  upon  the  special  service  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  He  made  a  modest  remark  in  reference 
to  his  own  illiteracy ;  but,  although  there  was  here  and 
there  a  quaintness  and  homeliness  of  expression,  neither 
out  of  place  nor  out  of  taste,  which,  nevertheless,  I 
could  not  here  repeat  without  exciting  a  smile,  it  was 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  245 

not  for  a  raomeut  deficient  in  force  or  devotion,  nor 
left  any  other  impression  than  that  of  deep  and  tender 
solemnity.  And  if  the  preacher  modestly  estimated 
his  own  ability,  it  was  clear  to  his  hearers  that  he  was 
a  '  man  of  one  Book,'  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  and 
taught  of  God.  The  subject  of  his  address  was  the 
indispensable  importance  of  the  death  of  Christ  and 
the  astonishing  results  which  it  accomplished.  There 
might  occasionally  seem  to  a  very  fastidious  critic  to 
be  a  slight  incoherence  of  fragmentary  observation ; 
but  it  was  not  so,  there  was  a  clear,  full,  consistent  vein 
of  thought  running  through  the  whole. 

"  I  do  not  attempt  to  give  more  than  a  specimen  of 
his  utterance.  Referring  to  the  promise  of  the  Saviour's 
coming,  couched  in  the  declaration, — '  As  often  as  ye  eat 
this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come,'  he  said,  'My  beloved  brethren, 
when  I  read  this  promise,  my  poor,  trembling  heart 
sometimes  sinks  within  me.  The  Lord  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  all  the  grace  and  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  and 
the  King;  but  these  aged  eyes  of  mine  will  not  con- 
tinue their  sight  until  that  day.  I  am  a  hundred  years 
old,  and  these  tottering  limbs  of  mine  shall  be  laid  in 
the  dust  long  ere  that  bright  vision  shall  gladden  the 
face  of  his  redeemed  people.  But  I  check  myself  and 
rebuking  my  impatient  fear.  Do  I  not  read  in  his 
sure  promise,  that  thougii  I  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the 


246     I'HE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

earth,  I  shall  lose  nothing  of  the  perfect  grace  that  is 
to  be  brought  to  us  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
even  because  he-shall  lose  nothing  of  all  that  the 
Father  has  given  him,  for  he  shall  raise  it  up  at  the 
last  day.  My  dead  body  shall  arise  in  the  vigor  and  im- 
mortality wherein  it  shall  be  fashioned  like  the  glorified 
body  of  Jesus.  And  these  dull  ears  shall  hear  the 
archangel's  trump,  and  these  dim  eyes  shall  see  the 
King  in  his  glory  as  clearly  and  to  as  good  advantage 
as  any  that  shall  be  alive  and  remain  upon  the  earth 
to  hail  that  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ !'  Could  anything  have  been 
more  inspiriting,  more  adapted  to  rouse  up  the  faith 
and  hope  of  the  believer  ? 

"Again,  in  allusion  to  the  plotting  of  the  great  ad- 
versary to  destroy  Christ,  he  said, '  At  last  he  succeeded. 
He  was  nailed  to  his  cross  in  agony  and  shame.  Satan 
had  bruised  his  heel,  and  thought  that  he  had  crushed 
his  head.  The  fool !  It  was  his  own  head  that  was 
broken  then,  and  he  has  been  a  fool  ever  since ;  and 
the  proof  of  all  his  wicked  madness  and  folly  in  com- 
passing the  death  of  Christ  became  apparent.  It  was 
Christ  that  triumphed  then  and  spoiled  the  spoiler. 
The  thief  was  rescued  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 
The  heathen  centurion  acknowledged  the  Son  of  God. 
His  death  multiplied  his  disciples.  The  thousands  of 
Pentecost  bowed   before   the   salvation  of  the   cross. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  247 

Myriads  upon  myriads  that  no  man  can  number  have 
been  delivered  from  the  kingdom  of  Satan  and  translated 
into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son.  That  great  sal- 
vation has  made  its  way  through  the  world  ;  its  blessed 
fruits  are  gathered  abundantly  on  these  Western  shores. 
Our  skins  are  dark,  but  our  souls  are  washed  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Nor  is  he  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins  only.  My  brethren,  the  time  was  in  this  city 
and  through  this  Southern  country  when  you  would 
scarcely  ever  see  the  face  of  our  white  masters  in  a 
house  of  prayer ;  but  how  is  it  now  ?  How  many  of 
those  to  w'hoin  we  are  subject  in  the  flesh  have  recog- 
nized our  common  Master  in  heaven,  and  they  are  our 
masters  no  longer  f  They  are  fellow-heirs  with  us  of 
the  grace  of  life.  They  sit  with  us  at  the  same  table 
of  our  common  Lord.  They  are  our  friends,  our 
brethren,  our  guardians,  our  fathers,  and  we  are 
travelling  together  to  that  blessed  land  where  we, shall 
dwell  together  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  their 
Lord  and  ours.' 

"  Who  could  but  be  affected  with  such  stirring  gos- 
pel eloquence ;  and  my  only  regret  was  this :  When 
the  old  man  was  surrounded  by  the  deacons,  some  ten 
in  number,  a  body  of  fine-looking  men,  the  most  of 
them  intensely  black,  to  receive  from  him  the  elements 
for  distribution,  I  felt  a  pang,  because  I  supposed  the 
Baptist  principle  of  close  communion  would  exclude 


248     '^^^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

me  from  sharing  in  that  feast  of  love.  But  this  ap- 
prehension was  quickly  dissipated.  Before  proceeding 
to  distribute,  the  aged  servant  of  God  announced,  that 
that  was  not  a  Baptist  table,  but  Christ's  table,  and 
that  all  who  loved  Him  were  M^elcome  there.  And 
when  the  bread  and  wine  were  handed  round  first  to 
the  white  occupants  of  the  pews,  all  of  whom  appeared 
to  be  communicants  in  Presbyterian,  Congregational, 
Baptist,  Dutch  Reformed,  Methodist,  and  perhaps  Epis- 
copalian churches,  and  then  to  the  six  hundred  colored 
communicants — as  devout  and  tender  as  any  congrega- 
tion I  ever  saw, — I  declare  to  you  that  never  did  I 
administer  these  emblems  of  my  Saviour's  love,  nor 
never  did  I  receive  them  from  the  hands  of  other 
ministers  of  Christ,  with  whatsoever  canonical  or  apos- 
tolical authority  ordained,  with  greater  joy  than  I  re- 
ceived them  that  day  from  the  trembling  hands  of  that 
poor  bowed-down  weeping  negro  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  The  service  continued  about  two  hours  and  a  half, 
consisting  variously  of  hymns,  prayers,  reading  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  exhortations.  It  was  refreshment  by 
the  way,  and  it  was  all  conducted  by  Mr.  Marshall. 
But  it  was  not  long  nor  tedious,  but  food  and  strength 
for  many  days.  And  when  at  the  close,  as  the  assem- 
bly orderly  broke  up,  yet  seeming  loth  to  part  with 
each   other,   I  went  forward  to  introduce   myself    to 


IN   NORTH   AMERICA.  249 

this  aged  father,  I  could  rejoice,  as  speakiug  through 
tears,  with  steady,  cheerful  voice  and  happy  heart,  we 
exchanged  the  mutual  prayer  that  it  might  be  ours, 
with  all  the  Israel  of  God,  at  our  next  probable  meet- 
ing, to  sit  down  together  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  God  at  the  marriage  supper, 
when  the  Lamb  himself  shall  preside. 

"  This,  however,  was  not  our  last  interview.  Among 
the  respectful  friends  who  gathered  around  him  was 
the  captain  of  a  Philadelphia  steamer  regularly  plying 
between  that  city  and  Savannah,  who  seconded  my 
invitation  to  the  venerable  man  to  visit  the  North,  by 
heartily  offering  him  free  passage  in  his  ship  both 
coming  and  going.  I  encouraged  him  to  expect  some 
help  in  building  a  larger  and  more  commodious  church, 
which  his  congregation  were  projecting.  About  a  year 
afterward  he  made  the  visit.  He  spent  some  months 
in  this  city,  lodging  with  a  respectable  religious  family 
of  his  own  race,  but  freely  welcomed  to  the  tables  and 
pulpits  of  the  brethren  whose  acquaintance  he  made 
(among  whom  was  the  family  of  a  noble-hearted  and 
wealthy  Georgian,  then  residing  here),  who  provided 
for  his  support  while  here  and  for  his  getting  about 
from  place  to  place, — for,  of  course,  he  was  too  feeble 
to  walk  or  even  to  travel  alone  in  omnibuses.  Per- 
haps the  long  journey  and  the  change  of  climate  and 
habits  contributed  to  bring  upon  him  a  disorder  from 


250     ^^'^   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

which  he  never  recovered.  He  preached  once  for  me 
to  a  large  concourse  of  people  whom  the  occasion  at- 
tracted. The  subject  of  his  discourse  was  the  fierce 
demoniac  who  had  his  dwelling  among  the  tombs,  out 
of  whom  Christ  cast  the  unclean  spirit  by  which  he 
was  possessed.  Applying  it  to  his  own  history  he 
described  his  own  early  life  as  a  careless  sinner  until 
the  grace  of  God  visited  and  rescued  him  from  the 
power  of  Satan  and  led  him  from  step  to  step  until  he 
became  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  He  detailed  many 
interesting  incidents  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  in- 
cluding the  siege  of  Savannah,  and  his  own  career  as 
a  servant,  and  his  journeys  as  an  express-rider,  bearing 
dispatches  from  officers  of  the  army  to  and  fro  between 
military  stations,  and  eventually  the  purchase  of  the 
freedom  of  himself  and  family  and  his  acquisition  and 
then  the  loss  of  property.  These  incidents  were 
wrought  into  his  discourse  not  as  a  mere  narrative,  but 
as  illustrations  of  the  ways  of  Providence  toward  him. 
The  sermon  was  richly  evangelical,  and  experimental. 
But  it  had  not  the  glow  and  copiousness,  nor -perhaps 
the  stricter  connection,  which  would  have  characterized 
it  but  for  the  evident  pressure  of  increasing  infirmity 
and  unusual  disorder  of  his  bodily  system.  The  au- 
dience, however,  was  deeply  interested,  and  responded 
to  his  appeal  for  aid  to  rebuild  his  church,  with  a  gen- 
erous collection.     But  he  did  not  live   to  accomplish 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  251 

his  object.  Returning  homeward  by  easy  overland 
travel,  his  illness  increased  upon  him,  and  he  died  on 
the  way  at  Richmond,  He  had  but  little  learning, — 
hardly  beyond  the  knowledge  of  his  Bible, — but  he 
was  shrewd,  intelligent,  and  fervent  in  spirit,  unpre- 
suming,  but  zealous,  and  useful  among  his  own  people, 
and  greatly  respected  by  all. 

"  The  following  account  of  his  '  trial'  which  I  re- 
ceived from  the  lips  of  Dr.  Preston,  maybe  repeated  in 
this  connection  :  There  was,  and  perhaps  still  is,  a  law 
of  Georgia  which  requires  that  a  preacher  shall  procure 
a  recommendation  from  three  reputable  citizens  of  his 
own  denomination,  and  upon  it  obtain  a  license  from  the 
county  court  before  exercising  his  office.  Mr.  Mar- 
shall applied  to  Dr.  Preston  for  a  testimonial,  which  the 
doctor  informed  him  would  be  useless  inasmuch  as  he 
was  a  Presbyterian  and  Marshall  a  Baptist.  For  some 
reason — most  likely  because  he  did  not  understand  the 
law — Mr.  Marshall  proceeded  to  preach  without  the 
license.  Some  officious  person  caused  him  to  be  in- 
dicted. When  the  day  of  trial  came,  it  appeared  that 
in  his  ignorance  of  the  method  of  proceeding  he  had 
retained  no  counsel  for  his  defence.  Several  of  the 
lawyers  in  their  kindness  towards  him  solicited  one  of 
the  most  eminent  of  their  brethren,  Mr.  McAlister 
(afterwards  Judge  McAlister,  of  California),  to  appear 
for  him,  as  he  was  incompetent  to  plead  his  own  cause. 


252     "^HE  FIRST   COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

Mr.  McAlister  immediately  undertook  the  case,  which 
looked  very  hopeless  indeed.  The  prosecution  proved 
the  oiFence  fully.  At  the  proper  time  for  introducing 
his  witnesses,  Mr.  McAlister,  observing  Dr.  Preston 
in  the  court,  called  him  to  testify.  On  the  doctor's  en- 
trance upon  the  witness-stand  the  presiding  judge  in- 
terposed, inquiring  of  counsel  for  the  defence  what  he 
expected  to  prove  by  Dr.  Preston.  The  reply  was : 
'  That  Andrew  Marshall  was  qualified  to  preach  the 
gospel.'  '  That,' said  the  court, '  is  not  the  question.  The 
accused  may  be  never  so  well  qualified  theologically, 
but  he  is  indicted  for  preaching  without  the  legal  qual- 
ification prescribed  by  the  statute.'  A  little  argument 
took  place  which  resulted  in,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
the  judge's  decision  to  exclude  the  witness.  Mr.  Mc- 
Alister immediately  called  another  well-known  citizen 
to  the  stand,  when  the  previous  scene  was  repeated. 
The  counsel  offered  a  third  equally  prominent  witness, 
who  was  also  rejected  for  irrelevancy.  Meanwhile,  the 
attention  of  the  jury  was  fastened  in  this  series  of 
overtures,  which  was  just  what  the  astute  counsel  de- 
signed. On  ^  summing  up,'  he  made  an  ingenious  and 
eloquent  speech  in  his  defence,  particularly  and  plausi- 
bly arguing  '  the  very  embarrassing  and  disadvantageous 
predicament  in  which  his  poor  client  was  placed  by  the 
remarkable  ruling  of  the  court,  which  on  his  offering, 
on  behalf  of  the  accused,  the  testimony  of  several  of  the 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  253 

most  respectable  witnesses  that  the  city  could  furnish, 
had  refused  even  to  let  them  be  sworn.'  The  prosecu- 
ting attorney  made  a  few  brief  remarks  commenting 
upon  the  law  and  the  testimony,  and  clearly  estab- 
lished the  guilt  of  the  accused  preacher  in  his  breach 
of  the  laws  of  the  State.  The  judge  as  pointedly 
charged  the  jury  against  him,  for  the  fact  was  unde- 
niable. The  jury  retired,  and  in  a  very  little  time 
returned  with  a  verdict  of  '  not  guilty.'  The  court 
gravely  received  it.  The  clerk  quietly  smiled  as  he 
recorded  it,  and  the  spectators  a  little  more  audibly 
tittered  in  token  of  their  satisfaction.  The  prisoner 
was  discharged  and  the  jury  dismissed.  As  they 
came  out  of  the  box  some  person  present  inquired  of 
one  of  them,  '  How  it  was  possible  for  them  to  bring 
in  such  a  verdict  in  the  face  of  the  law  and  the  fact 
and  their  own  oath  ?'  '  Easily  enough,'  replied  the 
juror;  'you  will  never  catch  a  Georgia  jury  convicting 
him  of  crime  for  preaching  the  gospel.' " 


REV.    THOMAS    ANDERSON. 

THE   THIRD   PASTOR. 

Thomas  Anderson  was  born  in  Chatham  County, 
Georgia,  of  unmixed  African  blood,  and  a  slave  to  the 
family  from  which  he  takes  his  name.     He  was  ap- 
12 


254     THE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

prenticed  and  learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  be- 
came a  convert  to  the  Baptist  faith  early  in  life,  and 
was  baptized  by  Mr.  Bryan  as  a  member  of  this 
church.  He  was  dismissed  to  form  the  Second  Church 
in  Savannah,  and  became  a  deacon  under  Rev.  Henry 
Cunningham,  in  which  office  he  served  until  set  apart 
to  the  ministry  as  an  evangelist  by  that  church. 

He  was  a  man  of  high  moral  character,  grave  of 
demeanor,  and  of  strict  piety.  He  married  a  manu- 
mitted slave,  by  whom  he  reared  a  large  family  of 
children.  One  of  his  sons,  Adam  Anderson,  was  for 
several  years  clerk  of  the  First  Church,  until  he  left 
the  State  for  Africa.  Rev.  Mr.  Anderson  was  pos- 
sessed of  an  intelligent  mind,  and  could  read  very  well. 
As  a  preacher,  he  was  not  fluent  of  language,  but  pro- 
found in  doctrine  and  ardent  in  delivery.  As  a  pastor, 
he  was  fatherly  to  his  people,  being  well  advanced  in 
years  before  being  called  to  that  position.  He  was 
ever  reverently  honored  for  the  purity  of  life  and  the 
high  position  he  occupied  more  than  for  the  ability  he 


He  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  this  church  in 
1833,  succeeding  Mr.  A.  C.  Marshall,  and  served  the 
church  until  1835,  two  years;  when  he  resigned,  to 
become  the  pastor  of  the  Second  Church,  on  the  death 
of  Rev.  H.  Cunningham,  in  which  position  he  served 
very  acceptably  and  with  much  success  until  he  died. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  255 

REV.    STEPHEN    McQUEEN. 

THE   FOURTH    PASTOR. 

Stephen  McQueen  was  born  a  slave,  upon  the 
plantation  of  the  white  family  from  whom  he  took  his 
name.  As  he  grew  he  was  selected  as  a  house-servant, 
and  becoming  a  favorite  of  his  mistress,  on  account 
of  his  strict  honesty  and  pleasant  disposition,  she 
taught  him  to  read  in  her  leisure  moments.  Removing 
to  the  city,  he  attended  the  church,  and  soon  became 
converted  to  Christ.  As  a  young  man,  he  joined  the 
church  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Andrew  C.  Marshall. 
Being  intelligent  and  able  to  read  tolerably  correct,  he 
would  exercise  his  gifts  among  his  fellow-servants 
upon  the  McQueen  plantation,  some  five  miles  from 
Savannah,  and  the  church  a})proved  of  his  preaching; 
and  for  a  number  of  years  he  thus  labored,  as  opportu- 
nities permitted,  at  different  points  around  the  city  and 
country.  It  w^as  late  in  life,  about  the  age  of  fifty, 
before  he  was  ordained  as  an  evangelist.  He  was  a 
man  of  fine  physical  appearance,  above  the  medium 
stature  with  very  pleasant  countenance,  but  slow  of 
speech,  and  very  deliberate  in  preaching.  He  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  1835,  and 
served  five  years  without  any  remarkable  results.  He 
was  a  man  of  strict  piety  and  sound  in  the  doctrines 


256     ^^-E  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

SO  far  as  he  was  able  to  understand  them.  He  con- 
tinued to  labor  as  an  evangelist  as  long  as  he  was  able ; 
but  a  few  years  after  retiring  from  the  pastoral  care  of 
this  church  he  became  much  enfeebled,  which  com- 
pelled his  retirement.  His  memory  to  the  latest  years  of 
his  life  was  good,  and  he  furnished  much  information 
of  the  early  days  of  this  church,  and  of  the  others 
that  were  organized  from  it.  He  died  rich  in  the  faith 
of  a  glorious  resurrection,  to  an  inheritance  among  the 
saints  in  light,  while  his  works  do  follow  him. 


EEV.    JOHN    BENJAMIN    DEVOUX. 

THE   FIFTH   PASTOR. 

Rev.  John  Benjamin  Devoux  was  born  in  Savan- 
nah, Georgia,  in  a  state  of  slavery,  on  October  15, 1774, 
and  was  thus  fourteen  years  of  age  when  this  church 
was  constituted.  He  was  of  mixed  blood,  and  possessed, 
as  among  his  race,  rare  qualities  of  natural  ability. 
Though  born  a  slave,  he  seemed  to  have  been  greatly 
favored  by  his  owners.  He  was  taught  the  trade 
of  a  house-carpenter  and  worked  at  it  generally  until 
his  later  days.  As  most  of  the  young  of  his  day  he 
early  became  a  professor  of  religion,  joined  the 
Savannah  white  church,  and  was  baptized  by  Dr. 
Holcotnbe. 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  957 

AVhen  the  Second  Colored  Baptist  Cliurcli  was 
organized  he  was  dismissed  to  it,  and  became  one 
of  the  first  deacons.  He  also  organized  its  choir, 
and  through  his  perseverance  acquired  for  himself 
and  associates  a  very  fair  knowledge  of  the  theory 
of  music,  and  thus  became  at  that  early  day  some- 
what celebrated  as  a  leader  of  church  music.  He 
became  the  father  also  of  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished colored  families  in  the  city  in  his  ability  to 
partially  educate  his  daughters,  two  of  whom  were 
his  assistants  in  the  church  choir,  and  led  the  singing 
after  his  death,  until  the  days  of  emancipation.  He 
was  a  man  of  strict  piety  and  upright  deportment; 
a  pattern  of  good  works  to  all  around  him,  yet 
very  modest  and  seemingly  diffident  in  his  actions; 
and  among  the  fathers  he  may  in  an  eminent  degree 
he  called  the  Barnabas,  for  he  was  truly  a  good  man 
and  "  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith,  and 
much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord  by  his  labors 
in  the  church."  He  was  often  a  representative  of  his 
church  in  the  Sunbury  Association  while  a  deacon, 
and  was  licensed  to  preach,  among  others,  about  the 
year  1831.  He  was  called  to  ordination  by  this 
church  in  1842  as  their  pastor,  and  served  two  years. 
Though  he  did  not  possess  much  of  force  in  preaching, 
he    was,  nevertheless,  a   good    reasoner   of   the   faith 

that  was  in   him,  and  sound   in  the  doctrines  of  his 
12* 


258     I'HE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

church.  He  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  died  on 
September  16,  1845,  honored  and  regretted  by  the 
whole  community,  and  greatly  loved  and  revered  by 
his  brethren  and  the  church. 

It  is  written,  "Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth."  He  also  was  one  among  the  meekest 
of  the  Baptist  fathers ;  and  under  his  roof  and  by  his 
noble  wife  and  daughters,  who  were  always  nominally 
free,  many  colored  children  were  clandestinely  taught  to 
read  the  Scriptures,  which  gave  young  Christian  men 
a  better  knowledge  of  God  and  religion  than  they 
would  otherwise  have  possessed  ;  and  also  left  their 
posterity  in  the  possession  of  knowledge  that  at  this 
day  makes  them  possessors  of  prominent  positions,  with 
power  to  benefit  their  race, — and  a  living  testimony 
of  what  faith  in  God,  hope  in  immortality,  and 
charity  towards  mankind  can  accomplish  in  the  world, 
even  after  we  sleep  in  death.  "  Blessed  are  the  dead 
who  die  in  the  Lord,"  as  did  Father  Devoux. 


REV.    ISAAC    ROBERTS. 

THE   SIXTH   PASTOR. 

Rev.  Isaac  Roberts  was  born  in  Savannah,  of 
free  parents.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  copper,  and, 
in  connection  with  John  Cox^  for  many  years  carried 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  259 

on  the  principal  business  of  making  barrels  or  tierces 
for  marketing  the  rice  grown  upon  the  plantations  near 
the  city.  Both  himself  and  partner  learned  to  read 
after  they  had  grown  to  manhood,  and,  like  all  colored 
persons,  were  limited  in  their  education.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  energy  and  industry.  He  was  converted, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Second  African  Church 
when  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and  soon  after  was 
licensed  to  preach,  exercising  his  gifts  among  the 
country  churches.  He  was  called  as  pastor  of  this 
church  in  1846,  and  served  three  years  very  success- 
fully and  acceptably  to  the  members.  He  did  much 
to  build  up  the  church  and  arouse  the  spirit  of  its 
members  to  work  for  the  Master's  cause.  Mr.  Rob- 
erts was  a  very  forcible  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and 
was  practical  in  his  application  of  the  Scriptures  to 
the  wants  and  condition  of  his  people, — a  thorough 
Baptist,  whose  principles  he  believed  to  be  right 
and  give  the  largest  liberty  consistent  with  right- 
eousness. He,  therefore,  more  than  any  other  of 
our  colored  brethren,  ever  exhibited  restlessness  under 
the  slave  system.  In  our  associational  meetings  and 
ministerial  councils  he  frequently  chafed  under  the 
humiliation  of  restraining  what  he  and  all  our  brethren 
felt  was  their  due  and  dare  not  express  relative  to 
our  Christian  work ;  and  many  were  the  times  when 
his  colored  brethren  had  fears  that  some  sudden  out- 


260     THE  FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

burst  of  his  feelings  (which  in  private  he  gave  vent  to) 
would  bring  trouble  upon  them,  and  be  the  cause  of 
silencing  them  from  preaching ;  and  among  them  all 
his  "was  the  most  intense  suffering  of  a  suppressed 
manhood. 

He  married  early  in  life  a  Miss  Bourke,  and  had  an 
interesting  family  of  children,  whom  he  greatly  desired 
to  educate,  and  therefore  often  encountered  difficulties 
in  procuring  clandestine  instruction  for  them.  He 
was  ambitious  to  become  the  successor  of  the  aged 
pastor  of  the  church  of  his  first  membership,  which 
was  then  a  body  highly  favored  in  the  Savannah  com- 
munity, and,  therefore,  upon  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Anderson,  in  1849,  he  resigned  the  pastoral  charge  of 
this  church,  to  the  regret  of  all  the  members,  with  the 
belief  expressed  that  as  a  son  of  that  church  they 
were  most  entitled  to  his  services ;  but  his  church, 
upon  making  the  call  of  a  successor,  chose  his  less 
brilliant  partner  in  business,  John  Cox,  as  their  pas- 
tor, who  served  them  acceptably  until  his  death.  Rev. 
Mr.  Roberts  sold  out  his  property  and  went  to  Li- 
beria, Africa,  where  he  continued  in  the  ministry  for 
many  years.  • 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  261 

REV.    BRISTER    LAWTON. 

THE   SEVENTH   PASTOR. 

Rev.  Brister  Lawton  was  born  and  raised  in 
Beaufort  District,  South  Carolina,  and  was  little  known 
in  Savannah  previous  to  his  call  to  the  pastorate,  in 
1850.  He  served  the  church  only  one  year,  and  there 
were  added  to  its  membership,  whom  he  baptized,  twelve. 
He  was  an  humble,  godly  man,  of  moderate  talents,  very 
little  education,  and  did  not  seem  suited  to  the  wants 
of  a  city  church.  He  was,  too,  unfortunate  in  having 
to  become  the  successor  of  the  brilliant  Mr.  Roberts, 
whose  eloquence  the  church  had  sat  under  for  three 
years  previous ;  and  so,  when  the  year  expired  for 
which  he  had  been  called,  he  returned  to  Carolina, 
with  a  peaceful  and  pleasant  parting. 


REV.    GARRISON    FRAZER. 

THE   EIGHTH   PASTOR. 

Rev.  Garrison  Frazer  was  born  in  Virginia. 
He  and  his  wife  were  brought  to  Georgia  about  the 
year  1850.  He  had  been  converted  in  that  State  and 
joined  the  Methodist  Church,  but  becoming  convinced 
that  the  Baptist  faith  was  according  to  the  Bible,  as 


262     I'^E   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

lie  expressed  it,  he  was  baptized,  and  this  church  or- 
dained him  to  the  ministry  as  her  pastor  in  1852. 

He  was  endowed  with  fair  natural  gifts,  a  command- 
ing presence,  and  a  good  voice.  As  a  preacher  he  was 
plain  and  impressive,  and,  while  not  learned  in  the- 
ology, he  understood  and  could  explain  the  doctrines 
of  Christ  quite  clearly ;  and  so  served  the  church  very 
acceptably  for  about  seven  years. 

Upon  the  occupation  of  Savannah  by  the  Union 
army,  he  was  chosen  by  his  ministerial  brethren  to 
speak  for  and  introduce  them  to  the  commander,  Gen- 
eral W.  T.  Sherman.  Soon  after  he  became  somewhat 
enfeebled  from  age,  and,  though  he  did  some  missionary 
work  among  the  country  churches  a  few  years,  died  in 
1873,  triumphant  in  Christ. 


REV.    ULYSSES    L.    HOUSTON. 

THE   NINTH    PASTOR. 

Rev.  Ulysses  L.  Houston  was  born  in  South  Caro- 
lina in  February,  1825,  and  is  therefore  now  sixty-three 
years  of  age.  He  was  raised  as  a  house-servant  by 
his  master,  James  B.  Hogg,  a  Baptist,  who  treated 
him  with  much  care  and  kindness ;  and  under  whose 
pious  teaching  he  early  gave  evidence  of  a  new  birth, 


IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  263 

and  became  a  member  of  this  church  June  27,  1841, 
being  baptized  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Devoux  at  the  age 
of  sixteen.  He  married  his  first  wife  when  he  was 
twenty-three.  He  was  then  a  member  also  of  the 
church's  choir.  He  was  called  to  the  deaconships, 
November  3,  1851,  and  served  four  years,  and  until 
he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel,  in  April, 
1855.  He  was  ordained  in  May,  1861,  and  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  October  fol- 
lowing. Though  a  son  of  the  church  he  has  ever  been 
also  a  man  of  the  people,  loving  and  beloved ;  and 
since  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bryan,  the  only  pastor 
directly  from  the  membership  of  the  church.  In 
appearance,  power  of  prayer,  and  preaching,  Mr. 
Houston  is  the  very  counterpart  of  him. 

In  his  public  ministrations  he  has  been  remarkably 
successful,  having  the  utmost  confidence  of  his  race 
and  people,  and  also  of  the  whites  who  know  him. 
He  became  moderator  of  the  Zion  Baptist  Association 
in  1872,  and  has  held  that  responsible  position  succes- 
sively to  the  present  time.  He  has  served  a  term 
in  the  State  legislature,  and  has  been  three  times 
elected  vice-president  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Con- 
vention of  Georgia,  which  office  he  yet  holds;  he  is  also 
vice-president  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Convention. 
He  is  possessed  of  fair  executive  ability  for  a  man 
self-educated,  like  all  the  other  pastors  born  in  slavery; 


264     I'HE   FIRST  COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

reads  well  and  writes  a  fair  hand ;  and  the  present 
prosperons  and  highly  blessed  condition  of  the  church 
is  due  largely  to  his  energy,  strong  faith  in  God,  and 
his  call  to  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he 
glories  in.  He  is  a  forcible  preacher,  with  much  of 
the  revival  turn,  and  when  in  prayer  thrills  the  souls 
of  his  hearers,  his  voice  being  sonorous  but  very  smooth 
in  tone,  and  his  words  clearly  articulated.  Under  his 
ministry  have  been  converted  and  baptized  a  greater 
number  of  persons  than  under  any  other  in  the 
State  excepting  that  of  Revs.  Andrew  Bryan  and 
Andrew  C  Marshall.  He  is  the  only  pastor  left  who 
fitly  represents  that  old  school  of  the  fathers  who 
labored  in  this  part  of  the  vineyard  of  Jesus  our 
Lord. 


THE   END. 


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The  first  colored  Baptist  church  in 


Princeton  Theological  S 


Speer  Library 


1012  00020  6781 


